Vintage diesel locomotive and carriages to visit Wick
A diesel locomotive from the 1960s and historic carriages will visit Wick Railway Station this weekend for a charity fundraising trip.
The Branch Line Society (BLS) is hosting a members-only charter train that will visit Wick on March 22 with money raised going to the Great Ormond Street Hospital.
On arrival at Wick, at around 10.40am, the train will be met by a piper and a Highland dancer and it will set off for Inverness at 1.25pm.
The BLS specialises in tours which include travel on lines not normally used by the public – for example, on the Friday it starts at Bo'ness and travels towards Edinburgh but turns left at Winchburgh to get directly to the Forth Bridge. No normal service trains use this stretch of line at present.
Ian Budd, convenor of the Friends of the Far North Line rail group, said: “The BLS approached FoFNL to see if we wanted a presence on the train.
“Our secretary, Neil Wallace, will be joining at Dingwall for the journey north, and he'll be selling copies of David Spaven's excellent book, Highland Survivor, which gives the story of the Far North Line and is our 'bible' for information. He'll be selling it for half price. We are also placing free copies of our latest magazine on the train, along with a 'Window Gazer' leaflet which describes things to look out for from the train.”
After alighting at Wick, the passengers will be taken by a private coach to John O’Groats for a sightseeing tour and the chance to have some lunch before being taken back to the train for the journey south.
