Waverley Route new image links and discussion

[Colin Stewart]

If you go on street view from the Skippers bridge and turn right onto the Penton road you can follow parts of the line, the site of the road bridge where the line crossed the road, onto Tarrasfoot - no viaduct now but you can see where the line came back over the road and can then follow the line on the left until you reach a farm where there would have been an underbridge.

 

Also on street view gilnockie station - site of the level crossing and rowanburn where Canonbie station was.

 

Colin

['CHARD]

If you go on street view from the Skippers bridge and turn right onto the Penton road you can follow parts of the line, the site of the road bridge where the line crossed the road, onto Tarrasfoot - no viaduct now but you can see where the line came back over the road and can then follow the line on the left until you reach a farm where there would have been an underbridge.

 

Also on street view gilnockie station - site of the level crossing and rowanburn where Canonbie station was.

 

Colin

 

Agreed, it's a lovely drive - as well as a virtual one! - and on my 2004 trip at Gilnockie I saw my, to date, only pair of red squirrels in the wild.

 

Can't imagine why anyone would want to blow up Tarrasfoot viaduct, although rumour has it it was a Royal Engineers exercise, along with a structure or two on the Port Road. Where the line runs through farmland after the viaduct always strikes me as reminiscent of a light railway, rather than a heavily engineered branch.

[62440]

Agreed, it's a lovely drive - as well as a virtual one! - and on my 2004 trip at Gilnockie I saw my, to date, only pair of red squirrels in the wild.

 

Can't imagine why anyone would want to blow up Tarrasfoot viaduct, although rumour has it it was a Royal Engineers exercise, along with a structure or two on the Port Road. Where the line runs through farmland after the viaduct always strikes me as reminiscent of a light railway, rather than a heavily engineered branch.

 

The Tarras viaduct was deemed unsafe and unstable. A firm from Selkirk was given the job to demolish it and cooperating with the locals, got a lad from Canonbie School to press the plunger. Unfortunately it was more stable than thought and a second (successful) attempt had to be made a few days later but without the lad's hand on the plunger!

 

I think that the demolition of Saughtree viaduct was an Army exercise: that would be in the early 1970s.

 

There's a picture in "The Railway to Langholm" of a train on the bridge over the B6318 Penton Road. ... and your Pub Quiz answer to what's the longest "B" road in the UK is this road, the B6318 from Langholm to Heddon-on-the-Wall!

 

Here's the before and 10 Oct 2010 picture of the bridge (Skippers Bridge) on the A7.

 

Bruce

[Colin Stewart]

On the subject of the Langholm branch and the photo in the earlier post, what type of coaches is the J39 pulling?

 

Thanks

 

Colin

[Guest Max Stafford]

Lead coach is a BR standard Mk1 non-gangwayed brake second, the second coach is most likely a Period 2 LMS, non-gangwayed composite.

 

Dave.

[62440]

<snip>

What I still can't believe is that the magazines of the day never detailed the final workings particularly thoroughly. Compared with the last weekend of the S&D (admittedly under steam's by then tenuous reign) data is scant. There is talk of a couple of specials that ran on the Saturday, one double-headed with Type 2s, for which there is no information available, the other presumably that hauled by D1973. Another, captured at Riccarton behind a 64A BFYE 26, appears on an image hosting site with a request for information about the working!

 

I was on the platform at the time above for the two trains above and you had me worried. I was beginning to wonder if my memory was going.

 

However, I guess that info above is from Robotham's "The Postwar Years" - page 19. If so, the double-headed was a definitely a single header with a Border Railway Society (not Border Union Railway Society) board "Farewell to the Waverley Route". (I specialise in shaky out of focus shots, but it's here for completeness.) The number recorded was 5131 and was the regular 9.20 ex-Carlisle and was not a special as he says.

 

The BR special "Farewell to the Waverley Route" ex-Edinburgh is recorded by Robotham as D1974 and this checks out correctly with information I have.

 

He does go on to mention on the same page the coffin being carried on the Deltic Special later that day. As the special didn't stop at Hawick, it would have made loading the coffin pretty difficult! (See photo on page 20) In fact the coffin remained at Hawick and was sent, as a parcel, on the last train, addressed to Richard Marsh, as Robotham says.

 

[Guest Max Stafford]

That headboard still exists today in the BRS clubroom!

 

Dave.

[Jamie]

A quick catch-up session on Railbrit's "new images" found me these diesel shots on the Wavey route:

http://www.railbrit.co.uk/imageenlarge/imagecomplete2.php?id=31014

http://www.railbrit.co.uk/imageenlarge/imagecomplete2.php?id=31037

http://www.railbrit.co.uk/imageenlarge/imagecomplete2.php?id=31046

['CHARD]

A quick catch-up session on Railbrit's "new images" found me these diesel shots on the Wavey route:

http://www.railbrit....e2.php?id=31014

http://www.railbrit....e2.php?id=31037

http://www.railbrit....e2.php?id=31046

Excellent work, sir. Not had time for anything much model or Wavey lately, so those links are rather welcome.

 

On both the EE freight phots, I am again rendered speechless. 64B's Type 3s clearly put some miles and engine hours in, it's good to see this being reflected in B&W at long last. How long before someone offers us the tantalizing shot of a lesser-spotted D400, I wonder?

 

Bruce - it's much appreciated that you captured 5131 with the Farewell. The polaroid qualities of that snatched shot actually lend it a certain 'time is of the essence' gravitas that a laboriously posed three-quarter view would squander. Very many thanks for sharing, as always.

[62440]

Excellent work, sir. Not had time for anything much model or Wavey lately, so those links are rather welcome.

 

On both the EE freight phots, I am again rendered speechless. 64B's Type 3s clearly put some miles and engine hours in, it's good to see this being reflected in B&W at long last. How long before someone offers us the tantalizing shot of a lesser-spotted D400, I wonder?

 

Bruce - it's much appreciated that you captured 5131 with the Farewell. The polaroid qualities of that snatched shot actually lend it a certain 'time is of the essence' gravitas that a laboriously posed three-quarter view would squander. Very many thanks for sharing, as always.

 

Would you believe that I watched D402 go past the bottom of my street at Loch Park siding in Hawick with a camera in my hand and didn't bother! The odd D400 went through on diversions and I can certainly remember two or three of the young 'spotters' snapping them, so photos do exist. I see that a decent shot of 5131 has appeared on the railbrit site taken by Kenneth.

 

 

 

Just leaving Hawick for Edinburgh

 

and some of the assembled protestors on the Up platform. What had really got up the noses of a local folk was that BR had done nothing serious to promote the line locally in the last few years, but here BR were running a special to 'celebrate' (??) the closure. A couple of the railway journals at the time had the guts to publish a letter from local folk venting their wrath. The feeling was, if it's going to close, then close the line quietly and just let it happen; don't glory in it as if closure was a victory. And of course, BR did the wonderful PR stunt of inviting press to the lifting of the first length of track at Riddings!

[Guest Max Stafford]

Looking back, there really does seem to be a cynical and vindictive element to the whole thing.

 

Dave.

[millerhillboy]

A quick catch-up session on Railbrit's "new images" found me these diesel shots on the Wavey route:

http://www.railbrit.co.uk/imageenlarge/imagecomplete2.php?id=31014

http://www.railbrit.co.uk/imageenlarge/imagecomplete2.php?id=31037

http://www.railbrit.co.uk/imageenlarge/imagecomplete2.php?id=31046

 

Just trying to imagine the racket that would have been heard during the first photo, with the sound reverberating around the trees. As the caption states 'accelerating' as well so would have been a nice old din!!

 

Nice to see a 37 picture as well , as much as I know photographic of such beasts are few and far between.

['CHARD]

Here's a nice wee gallery, including some from one 62440 of this parish - not one of Bruce's though, I think picture 10 is worthy of scrutiny, I hope I counted right - there's a dead-in-train diesel shunter being unceremoniously dragged by a steam loco in a freight consist. Top stuff!

http://forgottenrelics.co.uk/bridges/gallery/shankend.html

 

Incidentally, the 31046 RailBrit image is of a familiar scene. Unless I'm much mistaken, this isn't the mid sixties as the caption suggests, but towards the end of the line's life, hence the BFYE Class 46, and moreover the flailing enthusiast enjoying D5069, which I believe worked a Class 2 in January '69, possibly the 4th.

[Guest Max Stafford]

That's a wee NBL shunter. Wonder where it was coming from? The only BR place near here that used NBLs was Dumfries which would have been easier to send up the Sou'west - unless it was an MoD loco from Longtown.

 

Dave.

[Colin Stewart]

That's a wee NBL shunter. Wonder where it was coming from? The only BR place near here that used NBLs was Dumfries which would have been easier to send up the Sou'west - unless it was an MoD loco from Longtown.

 

Dave.

I always wondered what the MoD had at Longtown (and for that matter what was used on the little narrow gauge line for the peat moss which you cross on the Springfield to Longtown road) I seem to remember seeing something like an drewry 04 at the MoD/ BR interchange at Eastriggs - and the scrap yard at Annan Shawhill old station had a centre cab 0-6-0 for scrap which looked like it was ex MoD.

 

Colin

['CHARD]

"Curiouser and curiouser," murmured Alice, stretching as she awoke from a laudenum-induced slumber...

 

I had the micro-NBL down as being moved for scrap, possibly; but as you guys rightly say, where from?

There is always the possibility she was collected en route from some paying toil, which might include at Riccarton from some sort of Border Union demolition jobs (might it?).

But my gut says she came all the way from Carlisle. And that points to a redelivery to the Lothian area from works repair, loan spell or attention at an LM depot.

[Guest Max Stafford]

I'm not aware of any NBLs south of the border 'Chard although I'm open to the possibility.

NBL went down in '62 though and I'm wondering who took over the maintenance since the builder was effectively out of the game.

 

Dave.

[Bob Reid]

I'm not aware of any NBLs south of the border 'Chard although I'm open to the possibility.

NBL went down in '62 though and I'm wondering who took over the maintenance since the builder was effectively out of the game.

Dave.

 

Inverurie and St.Rollox - mostly St.Rollox as far as I know Dave......

['CHARD]

...and then I clocked the position of Shankend farm. Oh yes, and as the caption clearly states - she's headed SOUTH. Smacks head in disbelief

[Bob Reid]

Inverurie and St.Rollox - mostly St.Rollox as far as I know Dave......

 

 

Scrub that Dave, I thought it was a real NBL loco not a billy bunter - though the same works probably applies!

 

 

[26power]

Amazing what sites there are on the www. Some good photography and interesting stories on this and obviously a heck of a lot of time and effort gone into it.

 

Elsewhere on it is a bit about Whitrope tunnel:

 

http://forgottenrelics.co.uk/tunnels/gallery/whitrope.html

 

Includes some BMcC pictures as well!

 

And Riccarton junction:

 

http://forgottenrelics.co.uk/stations/gallery/riccarton.html

 

Only one "when operational" picture.

 

Single pic of Shankend station as it is now:

 

http://forgottenrelics.co.uk/stations/reborn.html

 

(Finally a wee diversion for a single picture of Cronberry signal box (it says): http://forgottenrelics.co.uk/stations/redundant.html.  If so would be in contention for oddest/ugliest signal box?)

 

(Second finally, there is a sister site that looks like it might be worth a read: http://www.deathbyhealthandsafety.co.uk/)

 

Cheers, 26power

 

 

 

http://forgottenreli...y/shankend.html

 

[Jamie]

(Finally a wee diversion for a single picture of Cronberry signal box (it says): http://forgottenrelics.co.uk/stations/redundant.html.  If so would be in contention for oddest/ugliest signal box?)

All entirely off-topic:

 

Yes that one's visible from the roadside. I struggle to get my head round what was BR there and what was likely to be NCB/predecessors. But by location - as I understand it - Cronberry Jct was where the Muirkirk line split to go on past Logan and continue to the A&C, or along past Commondyke to Auchinleck. That 'box' is the wrong side of the Bellow Water, more like where the mineral line split from the Auchinleck line and headed up the NW side of the river.

 

But that said, I'm not very knowledgeable about that wee corner of the world.

 

Aaand back on topic:

The NBL couldn't be heading for use as a contractor's loco ripping up some Borders backwater?

 

At long last I am pleased to say the Waverley thread has its very own troll:

Things I don't want to receive at Xmas # 503...

['CHARD]

Dave and I have narrowly avoided a bidding war - colluding strictly against eBay rules - in order to secure this artifact to reward you on Culreoch's next prizewinning outing mate

 

Realwhile, back in the mean world, I see two plots of land from BRB(Residuary)'s RLB portfolio (Riddings-Langholm) have recently been sold, one near Canonbie, and one near Langholm, according to the BRB( R) disposals list on its website. http://www.brbr.co.uk/property/property_listings/index_html?county=d&page=3

[Pennine MC]

I'm not aware of any NBLs south of the border 'Chard although I'm open to the possibility.

 

 

Pretty sure the LM got some of those later style D27xx Dave - Crewe and Wolverton ring a bell, possibly as works shunters. Dont have time to check Harris ATM, but will later.

Aren't there some pics elsewhere on the 'Net with one or more of those shunters in the consist of a Waverley freight? - a predominantly B/W site comes to mind?

BTW the LM also had the larger D29xx NBLs, and Goole had some of the earliest D27xx, though that's obviously not the issue here

At long last I am pleased to say the Waverley thread has its very own troll:

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item2a0af80e7d

 

 

Class

 

 

[62440]

On the subject of small shunters being towed over the Waverley Route ...