Fodderty Junction

Location type

Junction

Name and dates

Fodderty Junction (1885-1951)

Opened on the Dingwall and Skye Railway.
Opened on the Strathpeffer Branch (Highland Railway).

Description

This was the junction between the Dingwall and Skye Railway and the 1885 branch to Strathpeffer. The town town had been, at its request, bypassed by the Dingwall and Skye Railway when it opened in 1870. With the tourist development of Strathpeffer as a Spa town a branch, approaching from the east, opened in 1885 from this junction, a little west of Dingwall.

Both lines were single track. A signal box opened with the junction in 1885. It was located on the south side of the junction.

The box closed in 1936 when control passed to the north box at Dingwall.

During the increased mines related traffic to Kyle of Lochalsh in the Second World War a box opened in 1940. A large yard, Fodderty Junction Yard, was built by the junction on the branch line to marshal this traffic (the carrying of mines to Kyle of Lochalsh for a minefield laid from the Orkneys to the Faroes and on to Iceland). The site was on level ground before the steep climb to Ravens Rock Summit on the Kyle route.

The box closed in 1944, this traffic had ceased, and control of the junction passed back to Dingwall's north box again.

The branch closed to passengers in 1946 and completely in 1951. The main line to Kyle of Lochalsh remains open.

A ruined railway cottage remains in the 'V' of the junction.

Tags

Junction
06/09/2019



Chronology Dates

  /  /1936Dingwall and Skye Railway
Fodderty Junction box closes (for 4 years).
23/06/1940Dingwall and Skye Railway
Fodderty Junction box re-opens.
20/08/1944Dingwall and Skye Railway
Fodderty Junction box closes.
26/03/1951Strathpeffer Branch (Highland Railway)
Strathpeffer [2nd] to Dingwall (Fodderty Junction) closed to freight (complete closure).

Books


Highland Railway: People and Places - From the Inverness and Nairn Railway to Scotrail

History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands: Skye Railway v. 5

Insider Rail Guide: Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh (The Insider Rail Guide)

OS Explorer Map (428) Kyle of Lochalsh, Plockton and Applecross (OS Explorer Active Map)

Rails to Kyle of Lochalsh: Story of the Dingwall and Skye Railway Including the Strathpeffer Branch (Oakwood Library of Railway History)

Rails to Kyle of Lochalsh: Story of the Dingwall and Skye Railway Including the Strathpeffer Branch (Oakwood Library of Railway History)

The Dingwall & Skye Railway: A Pictorial Record of the Line to Kyle of Lochalsh

The Dingwall & Skye Railway: A Pictorial Record of the Line to Kyle of Lochalsh

The Highland Railway

The Highland Railway : The History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands - Vol 2

The Kyle Line: An Illustrated History and Guide

The Kyle of Lochalsh and Far North Lines

The Kyle of Lochalsh Line: Great Railway Journeys Through Time

The Kyle of Lochalsh Line: Great Railway Journeys Through Time