Ross60103

'cousin Ian' is indeed Ian Bouglas who captured Hawick station, yard and environs in some detail shortly after closure to assist modellers with the finer detail in later years. Meanwhile the attached pics are just great!

Hello all, Fascinating thread, some of the claims from RH (Hodgson not Hall!!) remind me so much of the "Brexit Bus" and the huge financial benefits to be gained from leaving the EU....another interesting source also referred to in A J Mullay is the MA Dissertation by John J Elliot entitled "The Border Railways- their growth and decline", University of Edinburgh 1969, specifically 'the exaggerated belief in the development momentum created by railways'. Meanwhile hope all my fellow anoraks are preparing for a very merry Christmas, all the best from New Zealand.

Thanks for that Matt, 62440 also shared some info regarding the episode, "oh what a night" indeed!

Actually on a more serious note, can anyone recall the name of the uniformed sergeant in the photo? There were some right characters based in the Hawick polis at the time inter alia Davie Todd and Alec Ewen, the former being an avid railway modeller, not that I ever had the occasion to meet them whilst they were doing their day job!

And some medicinal fortification of the malted variety I'm sure!!!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/sets/72157689871212964 and you may find this treasure trove to be quite handy from Ernie, scroll down to page 2 and you'll get a couple of good shots of the shed, the old roof then the 'modernised' version through to closure in 1966 and demolition shortly thereafter....R

Hi DM...Chard is right there is a magnificent cache of photos taken by Roy G Perkins just weeks after closure...another very good source is by a local Hawick lad Ian Bouglas.....if you go onto the Waverley Route and Branch Lines facebook page, search Hawick Railway Station and you'll see a post from, Ian Bouglas from August 2017 that contains 35 pics taken in summer 1974, including a fair few behind the yard, coal merchant goods shed etc etc..taken for the very purpose of assisting modellers and historians in the years to follow... ...sing out if my directions are a bit dodgy!...regards...R

Hi Bill, I think a mutual friend from Langholm may have mentioned this track plan! The two 11/71 references are interesting as I clearly recall D3880 on a Sunday demolition train running north between Fountainhall and Heriot, very sad memory!

the above is taken from the Waverley Route Heritage Archive......hope it is some help...R

That's excellent thanks Matt, appetite well and truly in whet mode!

thanks for that Matt, by way of example Bruce's photos of the 'Huntiegowk Special' show the train passing through Stobs wrong line working on the downline, but when it appears out of Whitrope Tunnel the reason for wrong line working is pretty obvious as the up line has been lifted!

Hello all, I've always had a morbid curiosity with the January 69 to final demolition period, in particular the track lifting from the very first panels at Riddings to the last connections to the north and south...challenge of the "holy grail" variety...are any of you learned members able to direct me to a source that details exactly when and how various sections were lifted? Obviously there was an initial burst of activity followed by a lingering hiatus, before full steam ahead to the end of '71 early 72...the ideal of course would be a spreadsheet charting the various locations with dates, but perhaps that's something that I might create in due course......any help, direction would be greatly appreciated...Ross

Season's greetings to all! May I share Ernie's link on The Waverley Route and Branches, accredited of course? It's a stunner and certainly got my mojo back in the groove!

And of course thanks RBMcC for the heads up on 'Britain's Scenic Railways; The Waverley Route', Ashley and Iona Butlin, Ian Allan Publishing, due 1/9/2017

Another two in my Borders re- opened shelf; The Borders Railway- The Return Journey, Peter Ross, Lily Publications The Waverley Route- Its Heritage and Revival, Ann Glen, Lily Publications And of course our local friends for the excellent Borders Railway From Start to Finish DVD in its various offerings from Hotdisc. I'm not counting various volumes that just have a couple of overused illustrations, but I would welcome any new suggestions that I've missed, Christmas is fast approaching! OK time for a work break!

Hi Richard and Editor, it's Tuesday night, Master Chef Australia is on so any excuse to get my anorak on! Here's a few from my collection, in addition to the ones listed above, which I thought was a pretty comprehensive list; Rails Across The Border A J Mullay, Patrick Stephens Ltd Rail Centres Carlisle, P W Robinson, Ian Allan Border Steam, Peter Brock, Bradford Barton North British Railway, Volume 1, John Thomas, David & Charles The Railway to Langholm, R B McCartney Riccarton Junction (Just a Few Lines) Christopher (Kit) Milligan Morpeth to Bellingham, Darley and Lovett, Middleton Press The Railways of Peebles, Perkins and MacIntosh, Amberley, The Border Counties Through Time, ditto Waverley Route, The Battle For The Border's Railway, David Spaven, Argyll Re- print for the opening, ditto Border Railways Rambles, Wham, Stenlake The Border's Last Days of Steam, W A C Smith, Stenlake The Lost Railways of the Scottish Borders, Stansfield, Stenlake The Last Trains (1) Edinburgh and South East Scotland, Moorfoot Scotland's Lost Railways 1. The Borders, Ian R Smith, Moorfoot Border Country Railways, Bill Peacock Waverley Route Reflections, Bill Peacock Border Railway Portfolio, Bill Peacock Main Line to Hawick, Bill Peacock Steam Trails, Scottish Lowlands and Borders, Clemens, Ian Allan And....drum roll.....Memories of Lost Border Railways, R B McCartney Righto, the epilogue must nearly be on now so good night!