TRANSACTIONS 



OF THE 



EOYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



19. Aerial Railway erected on the Lovat Estate, 

 Inverness-shire. 



( With Plates) 



By Gilbert Brown, Wood Manager, Strathspey. 



The wire ropeway at Farley, near Beauly, was erected by Lord 

 Lovat in 1907, for the purpose of bringing manufactured timber 

 from Farley Forest to a specially constructed siding near Beauly 

 railway station. 



The area under wood at Farley before the commencement of 

 operations was 1400 acres — the crop consisting of Scots pine 

 and larch of from 60 to 70 years of age. The various lots have, 

 up to the present, been purchased by Mr Frank Sime, timber 

 merchant, Beauly, who has taken a personal interest in the 

 working of the ropeway. 



The roads leading from the sawmills to the railway are 

 unsuitable for heavy traffic. Originally they had been constructed 

 for the use of the crofters in the district. They are very rough 

 and steep in some places, with a soft subsoil. They are also 

 of a very zig-zag nature — the length of the road from the forest 

 to the station siding extending to over three miles. It was 

 desirable therefore that some method of transport other than 

 ordinary road haulage should be adopted. 



Two alternative schemes were considered — (i) the construc- 

 tion of a light railway; (2) the building of an aerial ropeway. 

 From the general contour of the ground — the steep, short slopes 

 and declivities, the public roads to be crossed and the large 

 area of arable land to be traversed — it was considered that 

 the latter method of transport would be the more suitable. 



As the cost of erecting a ropeway is considerable, it can only 

 be deemed practicable where the felling area is large. In Farley 

 Wood most of the timber was mature. It was considered that 

 the cutting would occupy at least eight years with two sawmills 

 steadily employed. The length of ropeway required was one 



VOL. XXIX. PART II. I 



