The former station master's house at Brora, 2001

Mrs Jean Sim was photographed in March 2001 outside her home in the former station master's house at Brora. She is the widow of George Sim who was the station master at Dornoch, and moved to Brora when the line closed in 1960 to take up the position as station master. He remained in this post until his retirement in 1980.<br /> <br /> The Dornoch Light Railway ran from The Mound to Dornoch, the County Town of Sutherland. It was one of only two light railways built north of Inverness, and was opened for traffic on 2 June 1902. The line was worked from the outset by the Highland Railway Company. The company hoped to get extra revenue from the large hotel they built at Dornoch when the branch was opened. The line closed to traffic in 1960 and the station at Mound became redundant.<br /> <br /> Background<br /> Over one hundred years ago, two of the most picturesque railways in the world, the Kyle line and the Far North line, were built. Linking them to the rest of the UK rail network is the Highland main line. From 1997 to 2003 the National Railway Museum photographed these three lines, and from the images three exhibitions were created - 'Connection to the Kyle', 'By Firth and Flow' and 'The Highland Link'. The exhibitions were hosted on the Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) under the digital exhibition 'North by Northwest' which officially launched the National Archive of Scotland site on 5 June 2001 in Inverness. The collaboration with SCAN lasted until 2009 when 'North by Northwest' was transferred to the Am Baile website.<br /> <br /> 'North by Northwest' documents living history and records a snapshot of time in the lives of the people and the lines during the closing years of the twentieth century and the emergence of the twenty-first century. The exhibitions celebrated the impact of the Highland railways on the people, landscape and economy of the Scottish Highlands.<br /> <br /> We acknowledge support from the following sponsors who funded the photographic survey of the Highland main line, the Kyle and the Far North lines by the National Railway Museum photographers between 1997 and 2003:<br /> <br /> Railtrack, Railtrack-Scotland, ScotRail, EWS, Porterbrook, First Engineering, The Highland Rail Network Development Partnership, The Highland Council, Ross & Cromarty Enterprise, Caithness & Sutherland Enterprise, Safeways, Friends of the National Railway Museum, Perth & Kinross Council, and the Highland Railway Society.