Peebles Railway

Introduction

This line is closed. It ran from Eskbank (Hardengreen Junction), south of Edinburgh, to Peebles, later extended on to Galashiels. Between Eskbank and Hawthornden the line is now a cycleway, further south the line is partly ploughed-out but mostly walkable.

Why built

The line was built to carry passengers and goods from Peebles to Edinburgh.

Service

Passenger and goods trains operated over the line.






Dates

08/07/1853Peebles Railway
Act receives Royal assent.
04/07/1855Peebles Railway
Opened from Hardengreen Junction (Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway) to Peebles [1st]. Stations opened at; Hawthornden, Roslin [1st], Penicuik [1st], Leadburn, Eddleston and Peebles [1st].
01/08/1855Peebles Railway
Bonnyrigg [PR] opened.
31/12/1855Railway Clearing House
By this date, Cork and Bandon Railway, Crieff Junction Railway, Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway, Dublin and Drogheda Railway, Forth and Clyde Junction Railway, Furness Railway, Great Southern and Western Railway, Irish South Eastern Railway, Killarney Junction Railway, Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Junction Railway, Leven Railway, London and South Western Railway, London, Tilbury and Southend Railway, Monkland Railways, Monmouthshire Railway and Canal, Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway, Norfolk Railway, North and South Western Junction Railway, Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway, Peebles Railway, Perth and Dunkeld Railway, Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway, St Andrews Railway, Ulster and Dundalk Railway, Waterford and Kilkenny Railway and Waterford and Limerick Railway join.
  /06/1856Peebles Railway
Earlyvale Gate opened.
28/02/1857Peebles Railway
Earlyvale Gate closed.
01/02/1861Peebles Railway
North British Railway begins to work the line.
11/07/1861Peebles Railway
North British Railway leases line.
29/10/1863Peebles Railway
Leadburn, Linton and Dolphinton Railway
Three runaway ballast wagons from Leadburn, Linton and Dolphinton Railway construction work run downhill through into Leadburn station and into the path of an approach southbound train for Peebles resulting in considerable damage. There was only one death, the young son of Charles Tennant of the St Rollox Works, a director of the Peebles Railway who lived at The Glen.
01/06/1864Peebles Railway
Roslin [1st] re-named Rosslyn.
04/07/1864Leadburn, Linton and Dolphinton Railway
Line opened from Leadburn (Peebles Railway) to Dolphinton [NB]. (Or was it opened in June?)
01/10/1864Peebles Railway
Peebles [1st] closed and becomes a goods depot and locomotive shed. Peebles [2nd] opened.
  /12/1866Peebles Railway
Bonnyrigg [PR] re-named Bonnyrigg Road.
15/01/1867Peebles Railway
Walkerburn opened.
15/04/1867Esk Valley Railway
Opened from Esk Valley Junction (Peebles Railway) to Polton.
01/08/1868Peebles Railway
Bonnyrigg Road re-named Bonnyrigg [PR].
  /03/1872Peebles Railway
Thornilee re-named Thornielee.
09/05/1872Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway
Hardengreen Junction to Hawthornden Junction (on the Peebles Railway) doubled.
02/07/1872Penicuik Railway
Penicuik Railway opened from Hawthornden Junction (Peebles Railway) to Penicuik [2nd]. Stations opened at: Rosslyn [Penicuik Railway], Auchendinny and Penicuik [2nd].
02/07/1872Peebles Railway
Rosslyn [Peebles Railway] is re-named Rosslynlee. Penicuik [1st] is re-named Pomathorn.
01/08/1876Peebles RailwayNorth British Railway
Peebles Railway absorbed by North British Railway.
  /  /1881Peebles Hydro
Opened near the Peebles [2nd] station of the Peebles Railway.
01/01/1917Peebles Railway
Rosslynlee closed.
02/06/1919Peebles Railway
Rosslynlee re-opened.
09/07/1928Peebles Railway
Hawthornden re-named Rosewell and Hawthornden.
07/07/1947Peebles Railway
Pomathorn re-named Pomathorn Halt.
25/09/1950Peebles Railway
Peebles [2nd] re-named Peebles (East).
06/11/1950Peebles Railway
Thornielee closed.
07/03/1955Peebles Railway
Leadburn closed to passengers.
  /02/1958Peebles Railway
Peebles (East) re-named Peebles.
17/02/1958North British Railway
Edinburgh and Hawick Railway (North British Railway)
Peebles Railway
Galashiels, Innerleithen and Peebles Railway (North British Railway)
Class 100 DMUs introduced on the Edinburgh Waverley - Peebles - Galashiels [1st] loop service. This leads to an immediate more than doubling of the passenger numbers.
11/12/1958Peebles Railway
Rosslynlee Hospital Halt opened.
05/02/1962Peebles Railway
Hawthornden Junction (excluded) to Peebles to Kilnknowe Junction (excluded) closed to all traffic, passenger, goods and mineral trains operate as far as Rosewell and Hawthornden only.
11/09/1962Peebles Railway
Remains of line closed to passengers; Bonnyrigg station and Rosewell and Hawthornden station closed. (Alternative date 10/9/1962).
27/03/1967Peebles Railway
Line closed from Hawthornden Junction to Hardengreen Junction (excluded). The route was latterly used by freight trains for access to the Penicuik Railway.
  /09/2011Peebles Railway
Trackbed of portion from Leadburn to Eddleston to be converted into a footpath.

Route described

The line ran south from Hardengreen Junction, south of Eskbank station, which was the junction with the former Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway. From there the route ran near Penicuik south to Eddleston and Peebles. The line was later extended east, by the Galashiels, Innerleithan and Peebles Railway (North British Railway), to Galashiels to form a loop off the Waverley Route.


Locations along the line

These locations are along the line.

This was the junction between the re-gauged Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway and the Peebles Railway. Hardengreen Yard was developed here and the Dalkeith Branch (North British Railway) later also reached this location.
...

More details

See also
Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway
Dalkeith Branch (North British Railway)
A 4-car ScotRail class 158 combination with unit 158869 leading heading north past the site of Hardengreen Junction during the morning of 4 August ...
John Furnevel 04/08/2018
A northbound ScotRail service on the Borders Railway passing the site of Hardengreen Junction on 6 April 2017. Eskbank station and footbridge are ...
John Furnevel 06/04/2017
A 1997 view north over the site of Hardengreen Junction. The route of the footpath is now the Borders Railway and the Peebles Railway was off to the ...
Ewan Crawford 20/04/1997
Site of the former Hardengreen Junctionon a sunny spring morning in 2016. The southbound train approaching is a Borders Railway service destined for ...
John Furnevel 20/03/2016
4 of 17 images. more




This was a double track junction formed with the opening of the Esk Valley Junction which met the existing Peebles Railway. Access to both was from the north.
...

More details

See also
Esk Valley Railway
Esk Valley Junction signal box in October 1964. One of my first railway photographs taken on aged Box Brownie camera. The track behind the box was the ...
John Clark /10/1964
Esk Valley Junction, looking to Peebles, with the former Polton branch leading off to the right. A fir tree has grown where the signal box stood. ...
Ewan Crawford 21/02/2023
Esk Valley Junction viewed from the north. ...
Ewan Crawford 20/04/1997
The Polton branch left the Peebles line only a half mile or so after that line left the Waverley route at Hardengreen. Esk Valley Junction is not to ...
David Panton 25/03/2017
4 of 5 images. more


This was a two platform station in the south of Bonnyrigg, built by the Peebles Railway. Bonnyrigg also served by Bonnyrigg [EVR], to the north.
...

More details
The landscaped platforms of the former Bonnyrigg station now form part of the Penicuik - Dalkeith Walkway. Photographed looking south west along the ...
John Furnevel 03/07/2022
The former Bonnyrigg station closed to passengers in 1962. The area has since been landscaped and now forms part of the Penicuik - Dalkeith Walkway. ...
John Furnevel 05/03/2011
The platforms of Bonnyrigg station approaching from the south west in 1998, some 30 years after closure of the line. Following resurfacing work and ...
John Furnevel 12/01/1998
One of the imitation totems at Bonnyrigg station site. How does it compare with the real thing? Size and shape: excellent. Colour: excellent. Lining: ...
David Panton 14/03/2018
4 of 13 images. more




This signal box was south of Bonnyrigg station. It controlled the short line to Polton Colliery No 2 and Phillip's Siding.
...

More details








This was a two platform station. The main station building was on the Edinburgh bound platform with a smaller building on the Peebles platform.
...

More details
The substantial road bridge spanning the trackbed of the Peebles Loop east of the site of Rosewell and Hawthornden station (1855 - 1962) seen here in ...
John Furnevel 04/09/2013
A bright spring morning at Rosewell and Hawthornden on 18 March 2021. Photograph taken from steps alongside the picnic area that now occupies part of ...
John Furnevel 18/03/2021
Recent clearance of vegetation at Rosewell, along part of what is now the Penicuik & Dalkeith Railway Walk, has resulted in the reappearance of the ...
John Furnevel 18/03/2021
The site of the junction station of Rosewell, looking south on 14th March 2018. Take my word for it that both platforms survive. The literary
David Panton 14/03/2018
4 of 16 images. more


This was the junction between the Peebles Railway of 1855 and the Penicuik Railway of 1872. The junction was to the south of a level crossing immediately south of Rosewell and Hawthornden station.
...

More details

See also
Penicuik Railway


This single platform station was the first to serve Roslin, although it was quite some distance to the south and involved crossing the valley of the River North Esk and the zig-zagging roads between the two.
...

More details
Part of the abandoned former station house at Rosslynlee in May 2022. Dating from 1855 (originally named Roslin) the station closed along with the ...
John Furnevel 01/05/2022
The old goods yard at the former Rosslynlee station on a wet 8 December 2019. View is south west towards the level crossing with the timber platform ...
John Furnevel 08/12/2019
The former station at Rosslynlee on the Peebles Loop, seen here looking east on 8 December 2019. The garage is a later addition, built across the ...
John Furnevel 08/12/2019
A wet Sunday morning at Rosslynlee in December 2019, showing the wooden platform building, which housed general and ladies waiting rooms and toilet ...
John Furnevel 08/12/2019
4 of 13 images. more


This halt was opened to the north west of Rosslynlee Hospital. It had a short platform (20ft) on the east side of the line.
...

More details
A gap in the stone wall is the only reminder today of the halt at Rosslynlee Hospital Halt. Nothing remains of the platform, but a short section of ...
Ewan Crawford 26/12/2016
SLS Farewell to Peebles Tour 3rd February 1962

...
Jim Currie (Courtesy Stephenson Locomotive Society) 03/02/1962
The SLS Farewell to Peebles railtour makes a photostop at Rosslynlee Hospital Halt on 3rd February 1962. J37 0-6-0 no 64587 is in charge. ...
David Stewart 03/02/1962
3 of 3 images.




To the north of this level crossing were two sidings, on the west side of the line and approached from the south. The crossing keeper's cottage, with signal cabin at the north end, was on the west side of the line immediately south of the level crossing. Loanstone House and Loanstone village itself is to the north. There was no station here, Pomathorn was half a mile to the south.
...

More details
The Peebles Railway crossed the B7026 Auchendinny – Leadburn road at Loanstone, half a mile from Pomathorn station. On the east side of the ...
John Furnevel 02/08/2016
Loanstone level crossing box and surviving gatepost alongside the B7028, on the Peebles branch north of Pomathorn in April 1985. The sign on the gate ...
Bill Roberton 07/04/1985
Loanstone looking south towards Penicuik and Peebles. ...
Ewan Crawford //
3 of 3 images.


This was a two platform station with a loop. The main station building, of one storey, was on the northbound platform. To its south was a railway cottage There was a level crossing at the south of the station, the loop reversing to a single track to the south. The level crossing gates remained to accommodate two lines even after singling. The goods yard was on the west side, approached from the ...

More details
Pomathorn Station looking east towards Rosslynlee. ...
Clive Barlow 26/05/2006
Pomathorn Station looking east towards Rosslynlee. ...
Clive Barlow 26/05/2006
Pomathorn Station goods dock looking west towards Leadburn. ...
Clive Barlow 26/05/2006
Pomathorn Station bay looking west towards Leadburn. ...
Clive Barlow 26/05/2006
4 of 15 images. more


This level crossing was about midway between Pomathorn (north) and Leadburn (south).
...

More details


This was both a station and junction. It opened at Leadburn, a four way road junction and the site of the Leadburn Inn.
...

More details

See also
Leadburn, Linton and Dolphinton Railway
Approaching the long abandoned island platform at Leadburn on 5 August 2009 following a shower of rain. Vies is south west towards the former ...
John Furnevel 05/08/2009
The approach to Leadburn in February 2009, heading south towards Peebles. The main through platforms are directly ahead, while amongst the trees in ...
John Furnevel 22/02/2009
The junction station at Leadburn on the Peebles Loop, photographed on a dull day in December 2004 when the location was in use as a picnic site. A bay ...
John Furnevel 11/12/2004
Leadburn Station looking north towards Pomathorn. ...
Clive Barlow 26/05/2006
4 of 16 images. more


This was a marshalling siding used in the very early days when locomotives were less powerful. A train could be set back here and combined with another southbound train going downhill to Peebles. This allowed heavy trains from the north to travel as far south as the siding as two separate trains before being combined for the downhill run to Peebles.
...

More details
View south from Leadburn Summit in 2004. On the right was a siding used in the early days when steam engines were less powerful. A loaded train could ...
Ewan Crawford 30/10/2004
View through the driver's cab of the 07.54 Edinburgh-Galashiels via Peebles train shortly after leaving Leadburn on the last day of service, Saturday ...
Frank Spaven Collection (Courtesy David Spaven) 03/02/1962
2 of 2 images.


This level crossing was south of Leadburn and Leadburn Summit Siding.
...

More details




This was, very briefly a year after line opening, the site of a halt. It was located at a level crossing called 'Earlyvale Crossing'.
...

More details


This station was in the west of Eddleston. The station building still stands. This is a largely timber building, of a NBR style, extended at both ends. It had one platform, then two and returned to one before closure.
...

More details
The old station at Eddleston, 4 miles north of Peebles, seen on the afternoon of 16 July 2022. View is north towards Leadburn, in bright sunshine, ...
John Furnevel 16/07/2022
Looking north towards the site of the level crossing over Old Manse Road. Eddleston on the former Peebles Railway in January 2020. The road links the ...
John Furnevel 12/01/2020
The former station at Eddleston in the Scottish Borders, 4 miles north of Peebles. View across the garden towards what is now a private house, looking ...
John Furnevel 12/01/2020
A wet morning in Eddleston on 16 January 2019. The old station (1855-1962) is seen here platform side looking south towards Peebles. The modern ...
John Furnevel 16/01/2019
4 of 14 images. more


This junction and signal box were in the north of Peebles. The box controlled the junction where the 1855 Peebles Railway was met by the 1864 Galashiels, Innerleithen and Peebles Railway (North British Railway). The junction left the original Peebles [1st] station on a short branch, replaced by Peebles [NB] to the south east on the new line. The old station became a goods yard. ...

More details


Looking south at the approximate site of Peebles Engine Shed where the extension east to Galashiels left the original Peebles station on a short spur. ...
Ewan Crawford //
1 of 1 images.


This was the original terminus of the Peebles Railway which was left on a spur when the line was continued east to Galashiels. A new station Peebles [NB] was provided on the new line in 1864.
...

More details