Let the Train Take the Strain: Sepia Saturday

This week's Sepia Saturday prompt photograph features two workman standing besides a massive steam engine.   I find railway history fascinating and I think we tend to forget what an outstanding development railways were. You have only to read old newspaper accounts on the coming of a railway to a community to realise the impact it had and what a difference it could make to the lives of ordinary people now able to trav,  other than on foot or by horse and cart.

Cue for me to look at the lost line of the Berwickshire Railway that for 102 years (1863-1965) went through my home village of Earlston in the Scottish Borders;  plus  more recently family memories of trains.   

The Lost Line of the  Berwickshire Railway through Earlston (1863-1965) 

 Workmen and visitors at Earlston Station c.1920s 

 

  Waiting On the platform of Earlston Sation 

The Berwickshire Railway through Earlston in the Scottish Borders  linked two major lines - on the east coast the North British Railway between  Edinburgh and London  and in the central Borders the historic Waverley Route between Edinburgh and Carlisle.  The cross country line was built in three stages - to Duns in 1849, westwards to Earlston in 1863 and the final stage two years later in 1865  with the completion of the Leaderfoot Viaduct across the River Tweed. 

The opening of fhe line  to  Earlstonin November 1863 was a rather low key event in contrast to that earlier in  the nearby town of Dunse which welcomed the railway with much celebration.  On the opening day the public were carried free of charge, the first train at 2.00 p.m. having no fewer than twenty carriages and it was reported "floral and evergreen arches bestrode the long serpentine row of carriage, a flag waving over the top of the little wooden hut which at present does the duty of a Station House and the Dunse Brass band played". [The Berwickshire Railway - Dunse History Society].  

On December 4th 1863, "The Kelso Chronicle" noted:    "The new railway [at Earlston] is in regular working order and appears to be giving great satisfaction.  The trains run smoothly and keep tolerably good time.  We are already feeling the benefit of railway communication". 

The major engineering feat on the line was the crossing of the River Tweed and the building of the Leaderfoot Viaduct, which involved  a nineteen arch structure  907 feet long and 126 feet above the level of the river bed.   

 

A charming picture of Leaderfoot, c.1900

 

 Leaderfoot 2018  - now a favourite spot for  photographers 

The  Berwickshire Railway line was never a busy one, with roughly equal traffic of goods and passengers. In Earlston, coal was brought in and stone from the local quarry taken out, with agricultural produce and livestock the mainstay of  business.  

 

Devastating floods across the county in August 1948 meant that passenger services were suspended,  due to parts of the trackbed begin washed away.  Repairs were never fully carried out and only freight services continued on part of the line, which  was eventually closed without ceremony  on 16th July 1965 - an action of the Beeching Cuts and a major blow to the Earlston economy.   

                         

 

The last train through Earlston Station - July 1965. 

On the left is the train driver,  with the couple who  worked the level crossing and  the station master with his young son. 

Copyright ©  Bruce McCartney at http://www.geoffspages.co.uk/monorail/bmcc01.html  

All  Rights Reserved, 

***************     

Postscript:  In 1969 amidst the notorious Beeching Cuts,  the Scottish Borders lost all its rail services, making it the only region in mainland Scotland without a  train station.  But this all  changed in September 2015.  when 35 miles of the old  Waverly Line was opened, linking Edinburgh with  the central Borders at Tweedbank,  though not Earlston.  

 A special excursion steam train, arriving  at Tweedbank, Autumn 2015

***********

Holiday Memories of Trains 

In 1977 we were on holidays in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park,  where the heritage railway between Gromont and Pickering  was a key attraction.  The railway was planned in 1831 by George Stephenson as a means of opening up trade routes inland from the then important seaport of Whitby,  It was first conceived as a horse drawn passenger railway.  The line opened in 1836 and closed in 1965, reopening in 1973 by the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust Ltd.  

A visit to the National Railway Museum at York was also on the itinerary where our  daughter enjoyed playing gymnastics on the giant wheels.

And finally to the Austrian Lakes  and to the "Road Trains"  which  a number of the towns have to transport visitors around. Fun for children and adults alike.

At Mondsee the train took visitors from the main car park into the town centre.  Mondsee is probably most famous now as the location of the church used in "The Sound of Music"  film for the wedding of Maria and Captain von Trapp.   

This "train" in the spa town of Bad Ischl takes visitors round the town's attractions that include  Kaiser Franz Joseph's summer retreat - the Kaiservilla.  -  where in 1914 he signed the order that plunged Austria into the  conflict that became the First World War. Franz Lehar, composer of operetta's such as "The Merry Widow" also had a summer  residence here. 

 

****************

Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity to share 
their family history and memories through photographs

 

 

 

 

 Click HERE to see other bloggers on track with this  week's prompt