Inverness to Wick - The Far North Line 

One of my favourite travel channels. You’ve found your niche. The photography is superb! You deserve a much larger audience!

i went on that journey in the late 80s have family in thurso !... but i wanted to do the full run , also been to kyle for skye mmm wonderful route

I’m planning on doing this route next week. Been on my bucket list for a while. Also planning to go to Dunnet Head at the same time

On my to do list- great video have subscribed.

The music, you selected was a very good addition to this video, added another sense , one of peace. Thank you. Patrick

Just done that trip. Awesome, and the train staff are so friendly. The service is 4 hourly with few trains each day, so not very practical to keep jumping on and off. Excellent heritage museum in Wick to kill a couple of hours.

So I've just watched it for a second time because it was so good, - thanks again.

Am a new viewer to your channel and have to comment as to how interesting your videos are. Lots of scenery, trains along with a lot of history. Compared to a lot of channels you have a great format and so glad you do these trips. Hope that the channel grows!!

Fantastic. Many thanks!

Fabulous! Thanks for sharing.

One thing you can experience on the Far North and West Highland Line that you can’t experience on other lines is the good old clickety clack noise of the wheels as both these lines still use the old fashioned method of bolted rails as opposed to welded rails

What's not to like? The traction! That's another route that I could ONLY do behind a class 37 - maybe a 26 or 27 for someone a bit older. It's beautiful and I've done it many times, but I don't think I'll ever go back. It just wouldn't be the same on a 'plastic'. The English Electric thundering through those valleys and moors with all windows open on a Mk.1 Summer or winter. And taking the last train north and, after a few pints of heavy, spending the night on the beach at Thurso or on the empty stock at Wick in winter. Yes, you have to go again in the snow! Drifts so high you can't see any scenery for miles over the moors and not a single cancellation then.

Absolutely stunning journey. Superb video. Thank you 👍

Absolutely great views, thanks!

Love your videos. The photography is amazing.

Loved it! Marvellous! Cheers from Oz.

Thanks very much for that trimendous video - l have thurly enjoyed it, it was simply great, also great views across the water & away over to the hills, so many thanks to all those who have taken the time to make this great video. PS, think I will watch it again, it was so good ❤.

Lovely scenery - you can just see all that wonderful fresh air, can`t you! And very smart to pack a nosebag :) Thanks for sharing another brilliant trip report, Mr. H.

Excellent video

Dude, this is one of the best train trip journeys i seen. You have a new subscriber. I like your explanation of the station and the route and you showed whole journey with information and good camera work too. I live in Dornoch firth area and you were spot on. In invergordon those are new wind turbines. I work in the construction of them at sea and a great Many are going into the moray firth just now and many other areas around the coast, the cromarty firth ports are where they get temporarily stored. I like this route too, i sometimes take my dog to brora or Inverness on the train. i only wish the trains were in better condition, sometimes i find them quite dirty or unbearably hot in summer. I think its a problem with many of the class 158 s in the sun (sometimes there is actually sun onscotrail routes 😂)

This line has been on my bucket list for so long, and has so much scenery

This is one of your best! Really enjoyed this one!

Welcome to Scotland, glad you enjoyed your trip here😊

Thanks for such a fascinating intro to this wonderful old line. Back in the 70's I did the Kyle to Dingwall run and now wish I'd taken the time to do this one too.

Excellent video as always!! Very interesting too. beautiful scenery Hope all is well and hope you have a great weekend

I did this trip in the Spring. Doing it again with you I got a lot more info, and it was good to relive the excitement of heading far north.

Absolutely love your videos! Its so interesting looking at all these small lines I doubt I'll go on in my lifetime! Definitely one of my favourite RU-vid channels (perhaps only behind me but maybe thats me being biased 😅)

Another good video 👍. The Highland Rover ticket looks excellent value for money

What a wonderful channel.. Well done :-)

What a lovely journey and the autumn colours were beautiful. Our leaves are all down now and we’re bracing for winter.

A delightful watch. Of course I’m biased but I truly think this is one of the great lines. Shamefully under promoted by Scotrail in my opinion. I’m really glad you got to enjoy the FNL in all its glory.

Thanks Johnny,......what a fantastic journey and video. I had an over night stop in Brora in 1993. Being part of a team supporting a sponsored cycle run from John o Groats to Land's End Brora was our first stop.

Lovely video. I enjoyed traveling the line in winter with snow on the ground.

Very picturesque and beautiful. Scotland is an amazing country.

Love this line I stay in the central belt of Scotland and sometimes Scotrail offer a £17 fixed fair and I use this ticket to travel from Glasgow to Wick on a day trip leaving at 7am getting back at midnight long day but well worth it on a nice day. Funnily enough I was in Inverness that day and was on the 20.23 to Glasgow. Hope you enjoyed your trip

Far North Line is stunning, did this once back in 2017, great video

We were trying to get to Wick a few days after you but got waylaid by missing ballast near Helmsdale and never got on the line! Perfect excuse for another visit

Excellent video When I visited Scotland for many years ago there was a very plesant YIA in a castle in Culrain. The Norwiegan King lived there during the second world war

This is one that just has to be done, will get to it at some stage.

The thing about that is not everyone likes this stuff I love it btw

Red deer can often be seen in the area near Kildonan and Kinbrace. Worth looking out for them.

The big white things at the port of Nigg are wind turbine towers, the port has pretty much pivoted to renewables rather than oil and gas now.

Also, putting a large piece of matt black card behind the Go-Pro can substantially reduce those annoying reflections of the carriage interior that one gets as the daylight starts to fade. The size is a matter of trial and error and it may look a bit odd, but it definitely improves the quality of the image. I used to have a concertina rubber lens hood for my SLR which did the same thing. You had to press it against the glass for it to work properly, but I did get some great shots of trees and rooftops silhouetted against the night sky for my album.

The views from the windows were like framed paintings.

Did this journey a few years back and although I'd like to do it again, I think that the next time I will overnight in other Wick or Thurso. Although that could possibly turn into an extended stay should the weather turn bad, similar to what you experienced here!

I haven’t done the far north yet but I have done the west highland line. It’s stunning too

Its interesting. i watched this again tonight, and its magic: and that comes across not only in the video but in your final summary. Why? Why will I watch this again, in preference to wonderful alpine scenery and trains running to a clock face timetable.? I cant explain it. There is something about the UK network that sets it apart, and its not just chaos, inefficiency, and under funding: or is it?

As I expect you'll know, Johnny, the original Ness Viaduct actually collapsed after a major flood in 1989, severing the line for an extended period until the bridge was rebuilt and opened again in 1991. Fortunately, five of the then new Class 156 units were stranded on the northern section and British Rail decided it would establish a temporary, light maintenance depot for these at Muir of Ord, which was then the most southerly station on the line, apart from Inverness itself*; and this allowed these units to run a twice-daily service to both Wick and Kyle of Lochalsh during this period. *The former stations at Clachnaharry, Bunchrew, Lentran, Clunes and Beauly had closed by 1960, together with Conon Bridge, Fowlis, Evanton, Alness, Delny, Kildary, Nigg, Edderton, Meikle Ferry, Mid-Fearn Halt, The Mound, Loth, West Helmsdale, Salscraggie Platform, Borrobol Platform, Halkirk, Hoy, Bower, Watten & Bilbster; when the remaining local services were withdrawn (some had closed much earlier). Muir of Ord was also closed between 1968-1972. Thus there had been 45 stations or platforms north of Inverness, not including the 18 on the Strathpeffer and Kyle of Lochalsh branches, 5 on the Muir of Ord - Fortrose, 3 out of 5 planned for the Conon Bridge - Cromarty, six on the Mound - Dornoch and 8 on the Wick - Lybster branch lines! So far there have been four reopenings: Muir of Ord (1972), Beauly, Conon (212st Century) and Alness (in 1976), with talk of at least one more to serve the nowadays much larger village of Evanton, to be served by the recently re-introduced Inverness - Tain/Ardgay/Lairg local services. Kildonan was the unlikely site of a Gold Rush in 1869-70. The Helmsdale, in common with many Scottish rivers, produces small quantities Two temporary townships were built to house the prospectors, but all was abruptly terminated when the Duke of Sutherland found deer stalking to be more lucrative in 1870. Within the last couple of weeks, Scotrail has announced that Altnabreac station is "temporarily closed until further notice." This is because the line's unstaffed stations are have a passenger-operated radio signalling device fitted - and road access is being denied by the landowner - without which there is no way that the necessary materials can be transported in.

Try the Irish sport of Hurling similar to Shinty

On one occasion on the Wick service the train was late having hit a cow resulting in a large dent to the front of the train which did not have a cowcatcher fitted. I was on the return service and realised why the dent was so large - the cow was a huge Charolet. No doubt it wasn’t too impressed by the encounter.

It is stunning, that's true, but why Wick rather than Thurso, which is much more interesting?

If you think Shinty is savage have you ever watched Hurling (Iománaíocht)-Ireland’s oldest (3,000 years and counting) and one of our national sports? The other being Gaelic Football. These are the two most popular sports here and both are quite ‘robust’.

Not been up that line in many years since loco hauled trains that divided at Georgemas. The road bridges have probably killed off traffic.

I gotta ask, as a Packers fan, how the heck did you get into American football?!

You're pressing my "to do" button again, sir. Next year's list is getting longer and longer. Maybe I'll treat myself to two 7-Day tickets instead of one. - One in the spring and one in the autumn. Or perhaps I'll do the Scottish leg on rover tickets instead, to be able to use the buses as well.

Helmsdale has a geological fault. The Fault line forms a weak zone in the rock which has been eroded into a linear valley now occupied by the Helmsdale River. Glaciation exploited this weak zone, deepening the valley further"

Do you play American football (versus coaching)? What position?

No trains are stopping at Altnabreac now, due to disputes.

Can you do the Kyle line

2 ads a Nuisance at start not again