Route  :  Inverness - Wick / Thurso

On leaving Inverness the train passes over the Caledonian Canal. The canal links Fort William and the waters of the west coast of Scotland with the Moray Firth and the North Sea The line runs along the Beauly Firth and across the neck of land between Muir of Ord and Dingwall, home of the Viking parliament.  This neck of land joins the Black 'Isle' to the mainland.  Invergordon follows Alness, famous for its floral displays. Invergordon is a large deepwater port and while the Home Fleet may be long gone, oilrigs now fill the Cromarty Firth and the world's largest cruise liners visit the port.  Passing through the fertile agricultural lands near Fearn, the ancient town of Tain, shrine of St Duthas, is reached.

The main road north is left behind as it crosses the Dornoch Firth by a new bridge. The line follows the route chosen by the Duke of Sutherland, designed to open up the vast tracts of central and Northwest Sutherland.  Following the shore of the Dornoch Firth the line passes colonies of swans, before passing through Ardgay and over the Kyle of Sutherland past the magnificent Carbisdale Castle, now a youth hostel.  Only the Shin Viaduct separates Culrain (for Carbisdale) and Invershin.  The train now climbs alongside the River Shin to Lairg.  The auction mart beside the Lairg station hosts the largest one-day lamb sale in Europe, and while the livestock no longer travels by rail, Lairg still is the transport hub of mid Sutherland with postbuses serving Lochinver, Durness and Tongue.

The railway heads east through the crofting community of Rogart to the Mound, formerly the junction for the branch to Dornoch, where the coast is regained.  From Beinn A' Bhragaidh, the statue of the Duke of Sutherland surveys Golspie and Dunrobin Castle, served by the Duke's private railway station which is now restored and open for public use.  The fairy tale like castle can be glimpsed from the train.  Seals can be seen on the coastal section between the former coal-mining village of Brora and the fishing port of Helmsdale, where the railway turns inland once again, climbing alongside the River Helmsdale, noted for its salmon fishing.  Just south of Kildonan the Sutherland gold rush took place in the nineteenth century.  People still try their luck at panning.

As the strath widens out past Kinbrace the Flow Country is reached, one of the last wilderness areas in Europe. The peatlands are home to many rare plants and birds.  The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds visitor centre is in the former station building at Forsinard.  Ancient snow fences are a reminder of the harsh winters that used to close the line with deep snowdrifts.  After Altnabreac, one of the remotest stations in Britain, the Highland landscape is slowly transformed into the flatter lands of Caithness.  The fences here are all made of Caithness flagstones standing upright.  Many a city pavement is covered by these smooth, flat stones, quarried in Caithness and still occasionally exported by train.

Scotscalder station has been restored, and at Georgemas Junction the line divides: north for Thurso and its port Scrabster which serves Orkney, east for the county town and former herring port of Wick.