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I think this is one of George Kinghorn’s photos rescued by Dougie Squance. I’m guessing but perhaps George had cadged a lift on the Gala to Kelso freight. See RailScot photo https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/56/210/ The daily freight after passenger closure in 1964 was still handled with a Hawick loco, but I guess once the shed was closed, the daily freight to Kelso was handed over to the Gala 350hp shunter. Bruce.

Regarding the brake tender. I showed the photo above at a talk in Manchester and was told that quite often a locomotive would be paired with a brake tender.

Would I be correct in guessing that this was the Ticket Office to the right as you entered. I can only recall it being used very occasionally - but there again, I just used the train occasionally. The boarding to the left of the photograph probably would be the start of the entrance to the subway to the Up platform. My memory of the main (?) Ticket Office was to the left on entering - it had an LNER map to the right with a large arrow (presumably pointing to Hawick). It was on this map that I saw for the first time the tramway to Stobs Camp. I last saw the map in Hawick Museum many years ago. Bruce

The late Willie McKnight phoned me on the evening of Tuesday 31 March 1970 to say that a train carrying contractors would be running next day. I thought he was leg pulling, but sure enough there was the train at Hawick station and I took some photos of it travelling south. I didn’t hear it come down the line back north. Fast forward almost 40 years to 2010 The report/mention of a Hallade recorder in the railway press comes to light again. Fast forward almost 50 years to 2019. I am involved in the disposal of a collection of books: I flipped through these two 1). “The History of BR’s NE Region” has a picture of a Hallade trolley in use by John Addyman (his son is Daddyman in RMWeb) - it’s small; I could easily lift it. I had had visions of a large contraption needing a whole special coach. 2) ... and an eye opener, and maybe a game changer, is in the Oakwood Press book on the Rothbury branch. It mentions a special run for the engineers’ outing almost a full year after freight, ie complete, closure of the branch. If I am correct in stating that BR eventually lifted the Hawick line, not contractors, makes me wonder if this April Fool special was really for contractors, or was it a “jolly” - which would have been dynamite if made public? - thus kept disguised by carrying a Hallade trolley. If the BR weekly notice for the period could be found, that might settle the story. Poor Willie must have heard of it from something - he was employed by BR. Until the official BR notice is unearthed, I rather like the idea of a “jolly” - not unlike the local Town Council’s yearly jolly to inspect the waterworks. _____00000_____ There's a FaceBook page on the Waverley Route and branches, I would have no objection to someone with a FaceBook account cutting and pasting the above. _____00000_____ London Midland Region lifted the opposite line from Scottish Region: if this had started by April 1970 it would have made through running impossible. Also; Longtown still had a freight service until August 1970. I'm sure the appearance of a loco and coaches from ScRegion would have made a mention in a LMR publication had LMR lifting not started. If there's a Special Traffic Notice surviving, it might once and for all find the purpose of the "Huntiegowk" train. Here is my description in my book: April Fool’s Day dawned and very sceptically I went to Hawick station, and there it was: a single coach and a locomotive, D5307! A quick enquiry got the answer that it was going further towards Riddings, the limit of Scottish Region. After taking a photograph at Hawick station, I drove to Stobs station, settling on the footbridge to wait for the train. On the track to the Hawick side of the bridge there was a man was walking his dog and as he approached, I told him there was a train coming. ‘Huntiegowk!’ he shouted, passing under the footbridge, still on the track, walking towards Shankend. About a minute later, I could feel the vibration of the bridge as the approaching train crunched the rust on the track. After photographing the train to the north of the bridge, I turned round to take the photograph on the previous page with the dog-walker scrambling to avoid the train. Once it was past, he returned towards the footbridge, mumbling to me, ‘Ye *****, ye were right!’ He continued his walk with his terrier but this time away from the railway. From Stobs, I drove a few miles to watch the train cross Shankend viaduct – memories came flooding back to me of the last night watching the Clayton crossing the viaduct in the darkness towards Hawick. I look forward to any light being shed! Bruce

About the ECS DMU working on a Saturday, I believe it originated from Appleby. Bill's studies shows that it worked into Waverley on the Sunday which answers the question: could you travel the length of the Waverley Route on the same DMU? If you travelled from Waverley on the Sunday using this DMU to Hawick, spent the night in Hawick, and then caught the DMU from Hawick to Carlisle on the Monday morning, this would do the trick! Or ... https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/55/921/ (I think that ran because of some dispute). Bruce

The Scotsman of September 1932 carries a report of an explosion which occurred in the electric power house. According to it: "the power-house, engines, batteries &c were practically destroyed as a result of the explosion, as well as a store containing permanent way material and a blacksmith's shop." Frank Porter, signalman was severely burned and taken to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. I wonder what the electricity was generated for? I'm sure I can recall a Border TV program in the early 60s about the arrival of mains electricity. I'd a holiday job with a radio/tv shop in Hawick and they supplied 'new-fangled' TVs to the village using the newly constructed forestry road from Limekilnedge. Previous to that their van had driven along the Border Counties as far as the buffer end - this involved a long carry for the TV set. Bruce

I think the description will be changed soon! I have never had a holiday cottage near Riccarton. Iain's conjecture must be along the right lines. Bruce

I have a collection of some 92 railway books and booklets to dispose of. Most are in fine condition and all have a Scottish connection. Five contain the word "Waverley" in the title; nine contain the word "Border". .............................................. Books have been disposed of. Bruce

D8094

I submitted a piece for the WHRA magazine about my own experience in the shadow of Shankend Viaduct in the early 1960s. It doesn't have ghosts or ghoulies but it was weird! At that time, my summer school holiday job was working with a radio/tv shop in Hawick. Tuesdays, being half-day in Hawick was aerial erection day and many 1960s photos of Shankend station house shows off their work - it was a straightforward job with first class reception. However the WRHA article will show that wasn't always the case! [This is a no-spoiler posting!] I had no knowledge of unusual goings-on around Shankend until my wife bought the book "Railway Ghosts" and on reading the story about Shankend, I'm afraid my neck hairs made their presence felt. Also in the 1930s a light plane flying nearby suffered instrument failure near Shankend and crashed ~ coincident or supernatural? I'm wondering if in the posting above Stobs and Shankend have been mixed up? Bruce

Oh, he saw Tornado as well in both directions - and earlier in the year 45493 at Hawick 26/09/67 and 70011 7/11/67 - amongst the dozens of diesels noted. Trouble is that KAG's 20 or so pages of notes are typed and don't OCR at all well as they have smudged through time. Bruce

D8323 passed LE through Hawick 23/10/67 towards Edinburgh. D8317+D8324+D8318 passed through Hawick 15/11/67 towards Edinburgh at 3.48am. Extract from late KA Gray's notes. Bruce

Thank you 'Chard. May I just add a little? Relaxed, sitting in his well-worn armchair in Hawick, stroking my Border Terrier's ear, Kenneth said to me: "You know, I like to think that perhaps when being pushed in my pram in Hawick, I actually saw an NBR Atlantic." Bruce.

https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/23/18/ Shows one on a Langholm working in September 1967. If only I'd hung about a few more minutes as the loco derailed and the crane from Kingmoor came to re-rail the loco. This bridge, in common with the branch's imposing viaducts, has gone along with much of the embankment. However, this one really was a hazard for the A7 motorist. Unlike the Tarras viaduct, which as so unsafe that it needed two attempts to blow it up, this single arched bridge was conventionally dismantled. Bruce.

I've finished off my past couple of talks on the Waverley Route with a photo of Donald Trump, mentioning the possibility of golf course, hotel, leisure complex &c at Mosspaul and suggesting that he sponsors the double track line from Hawick to Carlisle to service the thronging multitude of visitors to 'Trump Mosspaul'. ... well, I can dream! Bruce. Langholm.