Invergordon railway siding constructed in one week for North Sea oil

In 1972, a quarter-mile railway siding was constructed in just one week at Invergordon in the Scottish Highlands. The project was commissioned within three weeks of its initial feasibility meeting to support the MK-Shand pipe-coating plant.

This development represented a significant expansion of British Railways’ involvement with the North Sea oil industry. The new siding connected to the Inverness to Wick and Thurso line. By July 25, 1972, the first train departed the site, transporting 90 sections of North Sea pipeline weighing a total of 450 tons toward Tyneside for bitumastic coating.