My wife and I are on holiday on Orkney (April 2019). Naively we thought that this would be a holiday away from railways ..... No chance! http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/04/29/the-railways-of-orkney
So much for a holiday away from everything (including railways). ... Here is the second attempt to get railways out of the system for the holidays here on Orkney! http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/05/03/the-railways-of-orkney-part-2
Hi Roger, A shame that you have missed visiting the Museum at Lyness. In the early 1990's I spent a week diving the High Seas fleet and we spent the time between dives most days, wandering around the museum. They were really welcoming and only charged us one entry fee on the first day and then let us return 4 or 5 more times before we left. After your first post took me down memory lane I did a but of research and it seems that the block ships have understandingly deteriorated quite a bit in the intervening 25 or so years. One of the most memorable dives I had was diving inside the Inverlane - or the half that was there that is. The water was crystal clear and we moved from hold to hold inside the ship at a maximum depth of 8 metres and when we got to the open broken end our dive guide showed us how strong the current was in the channel outside the ship by having us place a an arm with a glove on out of the shelter of the ship and the current tried very hard to peel the glove off. From there we drifted down to the next ship in line the Gobanadabories (I hope that I have spelt it right) so that we could be picked up in the lee of it.
Hi Rob Sadly the museum is closed for another year or so. Something to do with sorting out contracts before work can start. Roger
Seems a little ironic that the loco working the military lines was of German origin. I like the idea of a tunnel, and if they ran HV mains down the tunnel as well Orkney could export Renewable energy as well. Tube trains ala London underground would make it interesting and again enviromentally friendly, and not encourage an influx of cars. And freight only versions of them would be different. Paul
That's a shame Roger, although working in local government I can understand the timescales even if I do find them frustrating. Recently it took me 12 months to install some updated Audio Visual equipment in Wakefield Town Hall due to the need to get listed building consent from Heritage England
This is, I think, likely to be my last post about the railways in Orkney. It has been prompted by finding a secondhand copy of Wilfred Simms book. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/05/18/the-railways-of-orkney-part-3
