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Waverley Route
The Waverley Route was a railway line that ran south from Edinburgh, through Midlothian and the Scottish Borders, to Carlisle. The line was built by the North British Railway; the stretch from Edinburgh to Hawick opened in 1849 and the remainder to Carlisle opened in 1862. The line was nicknamed after the immensely popular Waverley Novels, written by Sir Walter Scott.
The line was closed in 1969, as a result of the Beeching Report. Part of the line, from Edinburgh to Tweedbank, reopened in September 2015. The reopened railway is known as the Borders Railway.
The North British Railway (NBR) was established on 4 July 1844 when the North British Railway Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. lxvi) was passed giving authorisation for the construction of a 57-mile-30-chain (92.3 km) line from Edinburgh to Berwick-upon-Tweed with a 4-mile-50-chain (7.4 km) branch to Haddington. The company's chairman and founder was John Learmonth, the chairman of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, whose ambition it was to enclose the triangle of land between Edinburgh, Berwick and Carlisle with NBR rails. Carlisle was a key railway centre where a cross-border link with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway could be established.
The NBR's Edinburgh-Berwick line was to be the starting point for the route which would run diagonally across the Southern Uplands to the Solway Plain and Carlisle, a distance of some 98 miles (158 km). The first step in establishing the line was the acquisition of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway (E&DR), a local line opened in 1831 which ran from an inconveniently sited station at St Leonards on the southern extremity of Edinburgh to Dalhousie on the Lothian Coalfield. The E&DR, which had been authorised on 26 May 1826 as a tramway to carry coal to the Firth of Forth at Fisherrow and, later, Leith, ran for a distance of 8+1⁄2 miles (13.7 km) with branches eastwards to Leith and Fisherrow from Wanton Walls. The proprietors of the E&DR viewed the NBR's overtures with some alarm as they feared the loss of their valuable coal traffic; thought was given to extending the E&DR to meet the Edinburgh and Glasgow or the projected Caledonian Main Line but the proprietors' concerns were assuaged by the NBR's generous offer of £113,000 for the outright purchase of the line and the sale was completed in October 1845.
In the state in which it was acquired, the E&DR was of little use to the NBR as it had been operated as a horse-drawn tramway for the previous thirteen years, was built to a 4 ft 6 in gauge and was in a dilapidated state in terms of both infrastructure and rolling stock. Nevertheless, the concern brought with it a number of advantages: its proprietors had developed an efficient coal-marketing organisation which would greatly benefit its new owners, it consolidated the NBR's position in Edinburgh while also barring the rival Caledonian Railway from the Lothian Coalfields, and, perhaps most importantly, the E&DR pointed in the direction of Carlisle. Authorisation for the line's acquisition was obtained on 21 July 1845 with the passing of the North British Railway (Edinburgh and Dalkeith Purchase) Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. lxxxii), which allowed the NBR to lay a spur from its Edinburgh-Berwick line near Portobello to the E&DR at Niddrie, thereby allowing NBR services to run directly from North Bridge station to Dalhousie.
Even before the NBR had obtained its North British Railway (Edinburgh and Dalkeith Purchase) Act 1845 authorising the acquisition of the E&DR, John Learmonth had instructed John Miller to carry out a flying survey of the territory to the south of Dalkeith for a potential line to Kelso which would connect with a branch from Berwick. The scheme, which would see a 52-mile (84 km) line from the E&DR's terminus at Dalhousie Mains to Hawick, was discussed at a shareholders' meeting on 19 December 1844 where it drew criticism for being nearly as long as the NBR's Berwick line. Learmonth described the line as a "protective" one to guard against incursions by the NBR's Glasgow-based rival, the Caledonian Railway, and stated that there was no intention of extending it further to Carlisle. The proposal having been carried by a substantial majority, the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. clxiii) authorising the line was obtained on 21 July 1845 with the incorporation of the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway. Although nominally independent, the company had £400,000 of its capital subscribed by NBR directors and the shares, each bearing a 4% guarantee, were to be transferred to NBR shareholders after incorporation. A special shareholders' meeting on 18 August 1845 authorised a further £400,000 to be raised which would be used to buy out the Edinburgh and Hawick company. At the same time, Learmonth revealed that it was in fact intended to continue to Carlisle.
The line would first be extended to Galashiels by paying £1,200 to buy out the independent Galashiels Railway project. The line to Hawick was to be the greatest and most costly of the NBR's lines. From Dalhousie it climbed up the valleys of the South Esk and the Gore Water for 8 miles (13 km) at 1 in 70 to reach a 900-foot (270 m) summit at Falahill, before dropping down to the Gala Water which it crossed fifteen times to reach Galashiels. The next stage passed through the Tweed Valley, around the Eildons to Melrose and St Boswells, and finally to Hawick over undulating terrain. Construction was already under way in June 1846 when the company obtained authorisation to build seven branch lines – four from its Berwick line and three from the Hawick line. The line opened on 1 November 1849.
Despite the manifest lack of traffic potential over the barren moorlands separating Hawick and Carlisle, reaching the Cumbrian county town was to be a hotly disputed affair with the NBR and the Caledonian Railway vying for control. The Caledonian was keen to hinder the progress of the NBR and planned an incursion into NBR territory with the Caledonian Extension Railway – a 104-mile (167 km) line from Ayr to Berwick to complement its main line from Carlisle to Glasgow. In 1847, the Caledonian obtained powers to construct a line eastwards from Gretna on its main line to Canonbie, only 8 miles (13 km) from Hawick, but these powers were allowed to lapse. A second scheme was promoted in 1857: a single-line branch to Langholm whose sole aim was to keep the NBR out of Carlisle. The NBR put forward a rival scheme: the 43-mile (69 km) long double-track Border Union Railway which would run from Hawick down Liddesdale and through Newcastleton to the Solway Plain and Carlisle. The extension being a matter of life and death for the NBR, its chairman, Richard Hodgson, who had replaced Learmonth in 1855, set about appealing to local councils and traders for their support. Through his efforts, the Border Union Railway was backed by the town councils of Edinburgh, Leith, Dunbar, Haddington, Berwick and Hawick, whilst the Leith Dock Commissioners, the Merchant Company of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce also supported the scheme. The Border towns saw the Glasgow-based Caledonian Railway as an interloper, whereas the NBR was an Edinburgh company and their chairman was from the Borders region. Such was the support for Hodgson that a public holiday was declared in his honour at Hawick in August 1858.
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Waverley Route
The Waverley Route was a railway line that ran south from Edinburgh, through Midlothian and the Scottish Borders, to Carlisle. The line was built by the North British Railway; the stretch from Edinburgh to Hawick opened in 1849 and the remainder to Carlisle opened in 1862. The line was nicknamed after the immensely popular Waverley Novels, written by Sir Walter Scott.
The line was closed in 1969, as a result of the Beeching Report. Part of the line, from Edinburgh to Tweedbank, reopened in September 2015. The reopened railway is known as the Borders Railway.
The North British Railway (NBR) was established on 4 July 1844 when the North British Railway Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. lxvi) was passed giving authorisation for the construction of a 57-mile-30-chain (92.3 km) line from Edinburgh to Berwick-upon-Tweed with a 4-mile-50-chain (7.4 km) branch to Haddington. The company's chairman and founder was John Learmonth, the chairman of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, whose ambition it was to enclose the triangle of land between Edinburgh, Berwick and Carlisle with NBR rails. Carlisle was a key railway centre where a cross-border link with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway could be established.
The NBR's Edinburgh-Berwick line was to be the starting point for the route which would run diagonally across the Southern Uplands to the Solway Plain and Carlisle, a distance of some 98 miles (158 km). The first step in establishing the line was the acquisition of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway (E&DR), a local line opened in 1831 which ran from an inconveniently sited station at St Leonards on the southern extremity of Edinburgh to Dalhousie on the Lothian Coalfield. The E&DR, which had been authorised on 26 May 1826 as a tramway to carry coal to the Firth of Forth at Fisherrow and, later, Leith, ran for a distance of 8+1⁄2 miles (13.7 km) with branches eastwards to Leith and Fisherrow from Wanton Walls. The proprietors of the E&DR viewed the NBR's overtures with some alarm as they feared the loss of their valuable coal traffic; thought was given to extending the E&DR to meet the Edinburgh and Glasgow or the projected Caledonian Main Line but the proprietors' concerns were assuaged by the NBR's generous offer of £113,000 for the outright purchase of the line and the sale was completed in October 1845.
In the state in which it was acquired, the E&DR was of little use to the NBR as it had been operated as a horse-drawn tramway for the previous thirteen years, was built to a 4 ft 6 in gauge and was in a dilapidated state in terms of both infrastructure and rolling stock. Nevertheless, the concern brought with it a number of advantages: its proprietors had developed an efficient coal-marketing organisation which would greatly benefit its new owners, it consolidated the NBR's position in Edinburgh while also barring the rival Caledonian Railway from the Lothian Coalfields, and, perhaps most importantly, the E&DR pointed in the direction of Carlisle. Authorisation for the line's acquisition was obtained on 21 July 1845 with the passing of the North British Railway (Edinburgh and Dalkeith Purchase) Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. lxxxii), which allowed the NBR to lay a spur from its Edinburgh-Berwick line near Portobello to the E&DR at Niddrie, thereby allowing NBR services to run directly from North Bridge station to Dalhousie.
Even before the NBR had obtained its North British Railway (Edinburgh and Dalkeith Purchase) Act 1845 authorising the acquisition of the E&DR, John Learmonth had instructed John Miller to carry out a flying survey of the territory to the south of Dalkeith for a potential line to Kelso which would connect with a branch from Berwick. The scheme, which would see a 52-mile (84 km) line from the E&DR's terminus at Dalhousie Mains to Hawick, was discussed at a shareholders' meeting on 19 December 1844 where it drew criticism for being nearly as long as the NBR's Berwick line. Learmonth described the line as a "protective" one to guard against incursions by the NBR's Glasgow-based rival, the Caledonian Railway, and stated that there was no intention of extending it further to Carlisle. The proposal having been carried by a substantial majority, the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. clxiii) authorising the line was obtained on 21 July 1845 with the incorporation of the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway. Although nominally independent, the company had £400,000 of its capital subscribed by NBR directors and the shares, each bearing a 4% guarantee, were to be transferred to NBR shareholders after incorporation. A special shareholders' meeting on 18 August 1845 authorised a further £400,000 to be raised which would be used to buy out the Edinburgh and Hawick company. At the same time, Learmonth revealed that it was in fact intended to continue to Carlisle.
The line would first be extended to Galashiels by paying £1,200 to buy out the independent Galashiels Railway project. The line to Hawick was to be the greatest and most costly of the NBR's lines. From Dalhousie it climbed up the valleys of the South Esk and the Gore Water for 8 miles (13 km) at 1 in 70 to reach a 900-foot (270 m) summit at Falahill, before dropping down to the Gala Water which it crossed fifteen times to reach Galashiels. The next stage passed through the Tweed Valley, around the Eildons to Melrose and St Boswells, and finally to Hawick over undulating terrain. Construction was already under way in June 1846 when the company obtained authorisation to build seven branch lines – four from its Berwick line and three from the Hawick line. The line opened on 1 November 1849.
Despite the manifest lack of traffic potential over the barren moorlands separating Hawick and Carlisle, reaching the Cumbrian county town was to be a hotly disputed affair with the NBR and the Caledonian Railway vying for control. The Caledonian was keen to hinder the progress of the NBR and planned an incursion into NBR territory with the Caledonian Extension Railway – a 104-mile (167 km) line from Ayr to Berwick to complement its main line from Carlisle to Glasgow. In 1847, the Caledonian obtained powers to construct a line eastwards from Gretna on its main line to Canonbie, only 8 miles (13 km) from Hawick, but these powers were allowed to lapse. A second scheme was promoted in 1857: a single-line branch to Langholm whose sole aim was to keep the NBR out of Carlisle. The NBR put forward a rival scheme: the 43-mile (69 km) long double-track Border Union Railway which would run from Hawick down Liddesdale and through Newcastleton to the Solway Plain and Carlisle. The extension being a matter of life and death for the NBR, its chairman, Richard Hodgson, who had replaced Learmonth in 1855, set about appealing to local councils and traders for their support. Through his efforts, the Border Union Railway was backed by the town councils of Edinburgh, Leith, Dunbar, Haddington, Berwick and Hawick, whilst the Leith Dock Commissioners, the Merchant Company of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce also supported the scheme. The Border towns saw the Glasgow-based Caledonian Railway as an interloper, whereas the NBR was an Edinburgh company and their chairman was from the Borders region. Such was the support for Hodgson that a public holiday was declared in his honour at Hawick in August 1858.