The Industrial Railways of Skye and Adjacent Islands

[rogerfarnworth]

In April/May 2025 we had a holiday on Skye and as part of that started finding out about the history of industrial railways on Skye and immediately adjacent islands.

The first we investigated was a line used to carry Diatomite from Loch Cuithir to Lealt on Skye the linked article below looks at that industry and follows the line. ...

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/05/01/th ... -to-lealt/

Other articles will follow in due course. ....

[rogerfarnworth]

Part 2 – The Talisker Distillery Tramway

The Talisker Distillery Tramway was a short 2ft-gauge tramway which opened in 1900 and closed in 1948. It ran from Carbost Pier on Loch Harport, along the Harport shore to Talisker Distillery and was used to transport materials for Talisker Distillery.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/05/03/th ... y-tramway/

[rogerfarnworth]

Part 3 – The Skye Marble Railway

The featured image for this article is the only photograph I have been able to find of ‘Skylark’, the locomotive which for a matter of only a few years operated on the Skye Marble Railway. Further notes about the locomotive can be found in this article. An information board across the road from Kilchrist Church, features Skylark at the head of a train of wagons. [5]

Some sources say that in 1904, an aerial ropeway was constructed to transport marble to Broadford Pier from Kilchrist Quarries (alternatively known as Kilbride Quarries or Strath Suardal). The quarries were used to excavate marble. [1][2] Other sources talk of the line being worked first by horses. [14] There was an incline between the upper and lower Quarries at Kilchrist which appears to have been rope-worked. It is most likely, given the length of line from Kilchrist to the quay at Broadford and the relatively shallow gradients, that the line from the marble works down to Broadford was worked by horses, but it is entirely possible that an aerial ropeway was employed. Nothing remains of the line beyond the formation which now carries a footpath once South of Broadford, and, as will be seen below, some rails in the surface of the pier at Broadford.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/06/02/th ... e-railway/

[Hound Dog]

Roger - thanks for posting ........very interesting - been in Skye and the Hebrides many times and never considered that there could have been a railway of any sorts across the water.

The mention of Talisker reminds me of one of my worst hangovers........on a business trio to Belgium with colleagues, we returned to our hotel late after a business dinner, but decided to have a night cap ......At that stage in the evening the night porter was also manning the bar and he was a young college kid, so when we asked for three Taliskers he proceeded to pour three tall tumbler size measures - well what were we to do ?

........I was woken next morning by a call from our local rep who was picking us up for another meeting, and found myself to be lying on my bed fully clothed from the night before........that was the start on one of the longest days of my life, the result of which is I cannot bear to face another Talisker..........fortunately my condition does not stretch to other malts.

[rogerfarnworth]

Given that you can still try other malts, have you tried any products from the Raasay distilliery?

[Hound Dog]

No I haven't tried any Malts from Raasay........currently I am hooked on the "Hearch" from the Isle of Harris, but now only have a bottle left from the very first batch which I am saving to drink with my grandson, "Harris" when he is 21 years old........his first birthday is next month, so I will have to age every bit as well as the whisky to be able to enjoy that day.

[rogerfarnworth]

Part 4 – The Raasay Iron Ore Mine Railway

There is an excellent book by Laurence & Pamela Draper, which they self-published in 1990, entitled “The Raasay Iron Mine: Where Enemies Became Friends.” I picked up a copy second-hand from an online sales site. That book covers the operation on Raasay in some detail. This article looks at the railways involved.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/05/27/th ... e-railway/

L. & P. Draper tell us that “Just before the First World War the Scottish coal and iron-ore mining, and iron-smelting, firm of William Baird and Company opened up an iron-ore mine on the Island of Raasay in the Inner Hebrides. … In association with the mine, Baird’s built several kilometres of narrow-gauge railway, a crusher, five calcining kilns, a huge ore hopper and a reinforced concrete pier. Many aspects of the installation, such as this pier, diesel-electric power generation and the provision of powerful external electric lighting, were very advanced for their time.” [1: pV][3: p146]

The BBC tells us that “William Baird and Co. Ltd … owned the Raasay estate and initiated the mine’s operations. The mine was developed just before the war and was crucial in providing iron ore for the British war effort, with the ore being transported to Ravenscraig for smelting.” [2]