Overview | |
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Locale | Scotland |
Dates of operation | 28 July 1874–30 July 1884 |
Successor | Highland Railway[1] |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
Sutherland and Caithness Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Sutherland and Caithness Railway was a Scottish railway company that built a line from Helmsdale, the terminus of the Duke of Sutherland's Railway to Wick and Thurso in Caithness, giving the northern towns access to Inverness. It was driven through by the efforts of the 3rd Duke of Sutherland and the engineer Joseph Mitchell in the face of apathy from interests in Wick.
Its roundabout route was forced by the difficult topography north of Helmsdale. It opened in 1874 and continues in use at the present day as the northern part of the Far North Line.