Lochaber Narrow Gauge Railway

The Lochaber Narrow Gauge Railway was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge industrial railway. It was a relatively long line, built for the construction and subsequent maintenance of a 15-mile-long (24-kilometre) tunnel from Loch Treig to a factory near Fort William in Scotland.[1] The tunnel was excavated to carry water for the Lochaber hydroelectric scheme in connection with aluminium production by British Aluminium. The railway came to be known colloquially as the 'Old Puggy Line'.

Lochaber Narrow Gauge Railway
Bridge number 15 on the closed Upper Works Railway, photographed in 1995
Overview
Locale	Scotland 56.822°N 4.721°W / 56.822; -4.721 Headquarters: Fort William
Operation
Opened	1925
Closed	1977
Technical
Line length	25 mi (40 km)
Track gauge	3 ft (914 mm)
Route map Pier Head (Loch Linnhe) West Highland Railway A82 Base Camp / Factory Incline Portals 'Possil Park' Adit 10 The Cour Shaft / Intake 7 'Central' (turning triangle) Allt Leachdach Valve Shafts (Loch Treig) West Highland Railway Fersit (WHR) Fersit Shaft C Bridge alongside Laggan Dam Roughburn Camp

Construction

The railway was initially built for the contractors Balfour Beatty to move workers and materials during construction of the tunnel. It was originally intended as a temporary feature.

Later, a decision was made to retain the railway for the delivery and despatch of materials and to assist with the maintenance of the tunnel.

Description of railway

The principal location on the railway was the factory area (or 'Base Camp' prior to its opening), where there were various facilities such as a locomotive and speeder shed. Some of the sidings here were of mixed gauge (3 ft / 914 mm narrow gauge and 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in / 1,435 mm standard gauge).

The railway as a whole comprised a network of lines as follows:

Pier railway

The pier railway, built to enable construction materials to be brought in, ran 1 ³⁄₄ mi (2.8 km) from "base camp" (near the factory site) to a pier on Loch Linnhe. It crossed over the West Highland Railway and the Mallaig Extension Railway of the LNER on separate bridges east of Mallaig Junction (as it was then known).

Later, a decision was made to retain the pier railway for the delivery of alumina and despatch of the finished aluminium ingots. The original railway, however, was not on a suitable alignment as it passed through the proposed site for Inverlochy village and also it crossed the A82 road on the level. Construction of a permanent pier railway commenced in 1927. It crossed the West Highland Railway on a bridge immediately west of Mallaig Junction. This bridge is still extant, although the embankment leading to it on the eastern side was removed in 2019.

It had been the intention that the permanent pier railway would be worked by electric traction, supplied by overhead lines, but this was never implemented. In addition, the bridges and embankments were built wide enough for double track, but the line remained single track throughout its life.

Upper Works Railway

This was by far the longest part of the rail system, running for some 19 mi (31 km) from base camp to the valve shafts located by Loch Treig. The first part of the railway climbed steeply for 4 ¹⁄₄ mi (6.8 km) at gradients of 1 in 30 or even 1 in 25. There were about 90 bridges on the line. Most of the bridges were originally timber trestles but all were subsequently rebuilt in steel using suitable scrap material from the factory. Near the middle point of the railway, at a location known as "central", there was a triangle for turning trains.

Portal incline railway

This was a short branch line that joined the Upper Works Railway close to base camp. It climbed to a height of 550 ft (170 m). Wagons were hauled by an electric winch at the top of the incline, which had a maximum gradient of 1 in ​2 ¹⁄₂.

Branch to adit 10

This branch connected with the Upper Works Railway and was ³⁄₄ mi (1.2 km) in length.

Branch to shaft/intake 7

This branch connected with the Upper Works Railway and was ¹⁄₂ mi (800 m) in length.

Treig–Laggan railway

This was a branch line some 3 ¹⁄₄ mi (5.2 km) in length. Built in 1930, it ran from a junction with the Upper Works Railway to Laggan Dam on Loch Laggan. The branch crossed over the West Highland Railway at Fersit on a 26-span timber trestle bridge. Much of the bridge was gradually filled in to form an embankment.

Branch to shaft C

This branch connected with the Treig–Laggan railway and was ¹⁄₂ mi (800 m) in length.

Closure

In October 1971, heavy rainfall caused part of the Upper Works Railway to be washed away, leaving a gap of around 70 ft (20 m) in the track. Following this event, the future of the railway had to be considered. At that time, the Forestry Commission was constructing many access roads in the area. It was therefore decided that further roads should be built, rather than repair the track. However, due to the length of time it took to achieve this, the railway continued to operate for a number of years. Two locomotives and two speeders had been stranded on the far side of the breach from the factory. The railway finally closed in 1977.

Current status

Following closure of the railway, most of the track was lifted, but the steel bridges were mostly left in place. Some odd lengths of track remain in place, particularly on some of the longer bridges.

There has been talk of reopening part of the Upper Works Railway as a tourist attraction.[2]

See also

• British industrial narrow-gauge railways

References

1. 56.819°N 5.110°W / 56.819; -5.110
2. "Bringing the "Puggy" back to Lochaber". The Oban Times. 18 March 2005. Retrieved 17 October 2009.

• Patrick Howat (1980). The Lochaber Narrow Gauge Railway (1st. ed.). Famedram. ISBN 0-905489-43-8.

External links

• Lochaber Narrow Gauge Railway on 'RailScot' website
• Photo gallery of the line in its current (2007) condition