Joe MCMLXI Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 Hi, I've been travelling up to the Dundee and Fife areas of Scotland, with work quite a lot recently ( I live in Derbyshire). Quite often, I've taken the scenic route ( and often very traffic free as well !) from Moffat, up the A701, through Tweedale, Broughton, Blythe Bridge, Leadburn and past the back of Penicuik to the Edinburgh By-pass, and have been fascinated by the amount of old Railway infrastructure still remaining. Bridges, embankments, cuttings, small 'Viaducts' etc, in the middle of nowhere. Are all these the remains from one railway and if so, which one. I fancy reading up a bit more. A lot has been lost to agriculture and the road and rail routes are sometimes quite far apart, so I've found it difficult to work out where the routes go. Did it link up to Moffat? Can anyone recommend a good read! many thanks, joe Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 Here's something to give you an overall view of what you're seeing - http://www.railbrit...._maps/index.htm . There are also short summaries of the history of many of the lines on that site (click on the line you're interested in on the map to go to the history). Did it link up to Moffat? No - Moffat was at the end of a very short deadend branch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Max Stafford Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 Most of that is the Talla Reservoir contractors' railway. Never operated by a mainline company and dismantled soon after completion of the project. Shame really! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe MCMLXI Posted June 9, 2012 Author Share Posted June 9, 2012 Hi , thanks for the information. That 'Railbrit' link looks very interesting, have book marked it for future browsing.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Try and find. Branches and Byways, Southwest Scotland and the Border Counties by Robert Robotham. It will fill you in on the general history and geography of the various lines. It would have been rather a steep incline to reach Moffat. I know the road very well in the southern part. Parts of the railway are very noticable. Not a lot has changed in that area over the years. Bernard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Russ (mines a pint) Posted July 29, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 29, 2012 http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/ is also good, certainly for the border counties line (Tyne Valley to meet up with the Waverley at Riccarton) I think it gets a bit sketchy with some of the further north branches. The Robotham book as already mentioned is very comprehensive Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
souwest Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Border branch lines - or something similar by Neil Caplan I think , has some good photos. Old-maps.co.uk is good for taking a visual around the lines once you have an idea from railbrit of where they were. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Just to revive this thread. I was cycling that way the other day and came across the remains of a once common cattle or sheep crossing bridge. Bernard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jl163600 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 I have also used the A701 route from the M6 / M74 to Edinburgh for many years, and have the same puzzlement as 'tidzaboy'. What were these tracks laid for, by whom and when were they decommissioned? The link http://www.railbrit.co.uk/_maps/index.htm doesn't seem to show the line. Google Earth shows traces of the line running to near Tweedsmuir, but then I loose sight of it. Also, as per other contributor, getting over or around the Beef Tubs to get to Moffat (which was at some point a spa town, and thus a likely destination from Edinburgh) would seem a difficult task. It's an idle curiosity as I soak up the stunning countryside and enjoy the drive along the A701, but I would appreciate some enlightenment.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted June 18, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 18, 2015 I worked in Moffat for a year and made a few trips up the A701 to Edinburgh. Amazingly, I never noticed these "remains" mentioned in the thread. The Western SMT coach service from Edinburgh to Dumfries was usually quite busy at Moffat but not enough to justify building a direct railway across difficult terrain. The route via Carstairs is not that indirect and the junction at Beattock was quite well served. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe MCMLXI Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 jl163600, I think the 'track' you have followed on Google earth, is the formation of the contractors railway, for the building of the 'Talla' reservoir, which is a little South East. of Tweedsmuir. If you zoom in on the river just NE of Tweedsmuir, you can see a substantial Grey steel bridge over the 'Tweed', which was used by the railway if I have read up correctly. If you change the elevation on Google Earth, you can then see the stone abutments of a bridge nearby. It's a fascinating drive, as there's lots of 'railway' still to be seem, I sometimes wish I had more time to stop and explore! cheers joe Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe MCMLXI Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 this link has some useful information.... http://www.biggararchaeology.org.uk/sp_tweed_talla.shtml joe Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JohnR Posted June 18, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 18, 2015 A good website for this sort of thing is http://www.railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caley Jim Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 jl163600, I think the 'track' you have followed on Google earth, is the formation of the contractors railway, for the building of the 'Talla' reservoir, which is a little South East. of Tweedsmuir. This is indeed what you are seeing. It left the CR Symington - Peebles line at Broughton. Full details of it's construction can be found in the Oakwood Press book 'Peebles Railways' by Peter Marshall ISBN 0 85361 638 8 Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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