Wick
Location type
StationName and dates
Wick (1874-)Station code: WCK National Rail ScotRail
Where: Highland, Scotland
Opened on the Sutherland and Caithness Railway.
Opened on the Wick and Lybster Light Railway.
Open on the Far North Line.
Description
This is the end of the Far North Line from Inverness, the most distant station from the rest of the network. The furthest north station is Thurso. The station is to the south of the River Wick, in the west of the town. The town has a considerable harbour on Wick Bay, built for the once large fishing fleet.
The station is a stone building with a timber all-over roof covering the buffer end of a single platform. The trainshed is a wonderful survivor. The wooden end screen is a little different to that at Thurso, having been either entirely replaced or cut back to remove the curved portions at either side. The former screen supports can be seen on either side. Wick formerly had a second platform, a bay, on the north side of the island platform with a looped line, but that line is lifted. This was the platform for the Lybster branch. The station was designed by Murdoch Paterson.
Wick had an extensive goods yard, now largely lifted and both the goods sheds have been demolished. The yard had around six loading banks.
The locomotive shed (Wick Shed) has been rebuilt as a supermarket. This was on the south side of the goods yard and approached from the west. Lines ran through the double track shed to the turntable.
There was a signal box at the west end of the station, opened with the line. It was replaced with a new box in 1893, on the north side of the line.
Wick was formerly the junction for the Lybster branch, opened in 1903. The junction was at the west end of the station with the branch curving to the south. The branch closed in 1944.
The signal box closed in 1977.
Local
John O' Groats is 16 miles north of the station.
Wick Heritage Centre
Pulteney Distillery
Caithness Stone
Scotland on Screen - Around Wick Harbour
Tags
Station TerminusExternal links
Canmore site recordNLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67
NLS Map
NLS Map
07/12/2019
| Nearby stations Thrumster Bilbster Welsh^s Crossing Halt Ulbster Watten Mid Clyth Roster Road Halt Occumster Bower Parkside Halt Lybster Georgemas Junction Hoy Halkirk Scotscalder | Wick Shed Quarry Bridge of Wester Lybster Engine Shed Tourist/other Wick Heritage Museum Pulteney Distillery Wick Bay Castle of Old Wick Loch Hempriggs Cairns of Yarrows Broch Loch of Wester Cairn o^Get Grey Cairns of Camster Loch Watten Hill O^ Many Stanes |
| Location names in dark blue are on the same original line. | |
Chronology Dates
| 28/07/1874 | Sutherland and Caithness Railway Line opened from Helmsdale (Duke of Sutherland's Railway) to Wick with stations at Salzcraggie (Private), Kildonan, Kinbrace, Forsinard, Altnabreac, Scotscalder, Halkirk, Georgemas Junction, Hoy, Thurso, Bower, Watten, Bilbster and Wick. |
| 01/07/1903 | Wick and Lybster Light Railway Line opened from Wick (Sutherland and Caithness Railway) to Lybster. |
| 03/04/1944 | Wick and Lybster Light Railway Lybster to Wick closed to all traffic (temporary, but final closure) |
| 01/02/1951 | Wick and Lybster Light Railway Lybster to Wick; official closure date (already closed by April 1944) |
| 07/02/1989 | Inverness and Ross-shire Railway Ness Viaduct, Inverness, collapses, separating the Thurso, Wick and Kyle of Lochalsh lines from the rest of the network. Dingwall becomes the southern terminus, Muir of Ord closes (although served by a minibus) and becomes a train maintenance depot. Buses operate between Inverness and Dingwall while a new bridge is built. Oil traffic to Lairg is suspended (it does not restart until 2001). |
| / /1991 | Sutherland and Caithness Railway Pipes delivered by rail to Wick. |
News items
Books
 Highland Survivor |
