46115 Scots Guardsman travelling through Nairn

From the Mill Road allotments 46115 looked an amazing sight coming across the Railway bridge in the evening sunset. This observer didn't have a camera though but someone has posted a video on Youtube of the steam locomotive as it pulled into Nairn railway station.

Trainless Friday in the Highlands

Let's hope this weather doesn't last too long. Scotrail has put the white flag up and there are no trains north of the central belt it seems. More on the BBC site

No more direct trains from London north of Edinburgh on the East Coast

We've seen how the Inverness Courier has raised alarm over the possible loss of the Clansman service to and from London now a Tayside paper is warning that there may be no direct trains from London to any destinations north of Edinburgh on the east coast line:

'A joint campaign by local authorities and other organisations to keep the direct link has been recommended by Dundee's top planning official.
City development director Mike Galloway, in a report due to be submitted to councillors this evening, said there are three direct daytime trains in each direction between Dundee and London Kings Cross.' More on the other Courier site.

Out past the eastern suburbs of Nairn

Everytime you pass that way on the train more houses seem to have been built in the Lochloy schemes.

Steam Train in Nairn this evening

Thanks to Jim for this picture that will bring back a few memories for older Gurnites. Jim told the Gurn :' Nairn station, 6.45 p.m. A couple of dozen steam enthusiasts gathered to see and photograph West Coast Railways' steam special, passing through on a short tour of the Highlands. A nice end to a fine day.'

High speed rail link must include Nairn!

The Scottish Government have jumped on Labour's feel good factor have a new railway ploy.

The BBC site proclaims,'The UK government's proposals for a high-speed rail link must include extending the line to Scotland, according to Holyrood ministers.
UK Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has set out detailed proposals for the first stretch of the 250mph railway.
He said the first part of the route would run from London to Birmingham.'

Well how far North would a super-duper wonder train go do you think if Scotland were thrown into the occasion? Why should we have to make do with the crappy single track line north of Perth? It can take you almost as long to get to Edinburgh from Inverness as it takes to reach London from Edinburgh. Let's have the Northern Terminal built on Station Park - not much football gets played there these days anyway and the funds from the sale would enable a relocation to Sandown.

Steaming in Nairn

On April the 12th 2009 the Gurnmeister was on Sunday morning duty with the elite pitch repair squad at Station Park when the double-header hit town. We were enjoying a cup of tea at the time and I was not the only one to lament not having a camera nearby as the locos stopped briefly for the token at Nairn station. However it seems somebody made a video. The second part of the video seems to be in the Keith area.

'East Cost' (trains) - a law unto themselves!

Users of the North lines will be accustomed to travelling in taxis or buses due to late or cancelled trains or other problems. Over recent years the Inverness-Aberdeen line in particular has often resulted in clocking up many bus miles for long suffering regular users, often with a bus between the relevant gap in the service but usually without a train waiting for you once the bus journey part of the amended service is completed. This is a tale of the line south however. It is often wise to get yourself to Inverness by other means than the connecting 07.17 from Nairn if you wish to catch the 07.55 Kings Cross train. I've been caught out twice, once the train from Nairn arrived in Inverness just late enough to see the London train pulling out of the station - the result? Several hundred pounds of taxi fares for Scotrail in getting the affected passengers further south. Another time I was lucky enough to make it to Inverness by car when enough advance warning was given that the Nairn service was late but it was a close thing.

Bearing in mind the difficulties that can arise sometimes if one relies on that connection I took the offer of a lift to Invernes. Arriving at the road at the side of Eastgate 2 that leads to the station drop-off point at around half-seven the London train could clearly be seen leaving the station. I thought perhaps they were changing the platform for some reason. Imagine my disbelief at the surreal message on the platform screen : 'London Kings Cross 07.26'. I checked my ticket to see if I was still in the same dimension and yes it definately had the normal time of 07.55 printed on the ticket and reservation card.

I asked a station employee what the situation was and why the train had left early. 'That's East Coast, they're a law unto themselves, they decided last night, didn't even tell us,' she said. She went on to tell me that there would be a bus at 07.55 however.

The bus driver explained that this had in fact been happening for a few days and was either something to do with the aftermath of the Carrbridge derailment or, perhaps a more regular reason, signal failure. It appeared that East Coast had got a message out on Moray Firth Radio about the change of time but that of course assumes that everyone listens to MFR.

The story had a happy ending however, the bus made one stop at Perth after negotiating a couple of inches of slush and snow over the passes and actually made it into Waverley Station fifteen minutes before the train that left half an hour early arrived in the capital. Now that London service can perform quite well once unleashed on the 'proper' railway south of Edinburgh and will move very fast indeed but it just goes to show that the line north to Inverness is only fit for Trains à Petite Vitesse.

Food still getting through to the Highlands

Gurnites will have probably seen the dramatic images on the telly of the derailed locomotive and Stobart food containers at Carrbridge. Stobart still have enough rolling stock to keep going however and quite a long train of similar containers was to be seen passing through Nairn around lunchtime. Once again the Inverness-Aberdeen line proves itself to be the ideal emergency route to the Highlands when both the A9 and the main railway route south are both blocked. To think too that there were strong rumours that some politicians wanted to close this lifeline back in the late seventies/early eighties.

More pictures of frozen Nairn - nothing exciting just a few pictures from areas around town where the recent thaw failed to make little impact.

A railway link for Nairn harbour?

The Gurn is delighted to present the first of a series of articles by Irene Main Mackintosh (author of 'Street Names of Nairn')

Today we cannot get a much needed bus service down to the Fishertown, but who would have thought in 1863 the Provost and Councillors of our town were engaged in discussions to have a railway line built down to the Harbour under the auspices of the Morayshire Railway Bill

24^TH. MARCH 1863

STEAM COMMUNICATION IN THE MORAY FIRTH.

A public meeting of the people of Nairn was held there on Thursday last, for the purpose of considering, and if so resolved, petitioning Parliament regarding the Morayshire Railway Bill, which has for its object the establishment of a steam boat communication between Lossiemouth and other places on the north and south side of the Moray Firth. Lt. Col. Alexander Findlay of Millbank, Provost, was unanimously elected chairman of the meeting, and he called on Provost Grant of Elgin to explain the object of the bill and nature of the opposition made to it, which he did at great length. It was then moved by Mr.Ketchen that the meeting petition Parliament in favour of the bill, whereupon it was moved by an amendment by Mr. Davidson, town

Clerk, seconded by Mr. Hugh Mann, that the meeting, while deprecating the opposition which in the case of said bill had been offered by the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway Company and others to the free navigation of the Moray Firth, is of opinion that of all the ports on the south side, Nairn is the one best suited for a steam-boat, communication with the northern shores; that, the first step towards this communication, and one which irrespective thereof is of great importance, is a railway connection with the harbour of Nairn; and that the chairman be therefore requested to make a representation to this effect to the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction and Great North of Scotland Railway Companies, with a request that one or both of them will establish such a connection with the least possible delay. After full

discussion Mr. Ketchen withdrew his motion, and the amendment was carried. The

best thanks of the meeting were then voted to Provost Grant for his lucid explanation and to Col. Findlay for his conduct in the chair, and the meeting separated.

Irene Main Mackintosh

A day in April 1978

Thanks to Gordon for this pic downloaded from his flickr site. He writes on his site:

Apologies for the quality of the print - included for rarity - historic interest. This was the first visit of an HST to Inverness for publicity purposes, in advance of these fine trains being introduced on Inter City services from Aberdeen to London.This is the train passing Nairn. The passing time was announced in the local paper - the Nairnshire Telegraph - and resulted in a decent crowd of spectators to witness the passing of the HST.

Another of Gordon's pictures soon. Thanks Gordon, he tells the Gurn,

'My family lived in Nairn 1968 to 1982. I was at the Academy 1968 - 1973. Happy days, we still visit. Lovely town'