Beattock Summit is the highest point of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) railway and of the A74(M) motorway as they cross between Dumfries and Galloway and South Lanarkshire in south west Scotland.
The height of the summit reached by the A74(M) motorway is 1,033 feet (315 m) above sea level. The adjacent railway reaches a slightly lower elevation of 1,016 feet (310 m).[2] The summit is the watershed between the River Clyde to the north and Evan Water, a tributary of the River Annan to the south.
The summit is the highest point on the Caledonian Railway Main Line north of the border (built by the Caledonian Railway and opened on 15 February 1848), it is located 52 miles (83 km) south of Glasgow Central and 349 miles (558 km) north of London Euston stations.[3] It is 62 miles (100 km) north of the second highest point on the WCML - Shap Summit in Cumbria.
The northbound climb has a 15 miles (24 km) ascent, with gradients of up to 1 in 69 (1 foot of rising or falling gradient for every 69 feet of distance) which made it a notoriously severe climb in the days of steam locomotives, which frequently required banking assistance to get their trains up the incline. There was an engine shed at Beattock which had banking locomotives on standby twenty-four hours per day to minimise train delays.[3][4] The railway was electrified in 1974 by British Rail.[3] The signal box at the summit was also removed as part of the electrification project, with the signalling now being controlled from a new power signal box at Motherwell.
The severity of the climb to the summit is referenced in W. H. Auden's poem Night Mail, written in 1936 for the G.P.O. Film Unit's celebrated production of the same name.[2]
The summit was the location of a private halt from 1900 to around 1926.[1] 1966[5]
| Preceding station | Historical railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auchencastle Line open; Station closed |
Caledonian Railway Main Line |
Elvanfoot Line open; Station closed | ||
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