Talla Railway

Introduction

This line was used to assist the construction of the Talla Reservoir which serves Edinburgh. The line was also known as the Edinburgh and District Water Trust Service Railway. It was a single track contractors line, built to a high standard, running south from Broughton [2nd] to the reservoir dam, at Victoria Lodge and beyond to various work sites. There were camps on the line at Mossfennan Siding and Kingledoors Siding (now Kingledores). There was a halt at Crook for the Crook Inn. The line was in operation between 1895/6 and 1905, it was lifted by 1912.

Apart from works trains carrying passengers operated by the contractors there were passenger excursions from Edinburgh Princes Street on two occasions; the laying of a foundation stone at Victoria Lodge and the official opening ceremony.

The line did not have signalling, instead telephones were used to control train movements.





Dates

  /  /1895Talla Railway
The Talla Water Scheme Act of 1895 empowers the Edinburgh and District Water Trustees build a railway from Broughton [2nd] on the Peebles Branch of the Caledonian Railway to a proposed reservoir in the Talla Valley. The railway was planned due to the quantity of material which would require to be moved including an estimate of 100,000 tons of clay, pipes, cement etc., which would be difficult to take by road from Broughton.
  /04/1895Caledonian Railway
Approves the connection of the Edinburgh and District Water Trustees's Talla Railway to their system.
28/09/1895Talla Railway
First Sod of Talla Railway cut by Lady McDonald, wife of the Lord Provost of Edinburgh. Construction begins with the doubling of the section of line east from Broughton [2nd] to Rachan Junction. Contractor James Young and Sons is appointed for the works south of Rachan with subcontractors Robert McAlpine and Sons, for bridges, and John Best.
  /  /1896Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway
Caledonian Railway completes laying second line between Broughton [2nd] and Rachan Junction for the Talla Railway.
  /  /1896Talla Railway
Camp built at Mossfennan which included stores, workshops and offices for the work, Mossfennan Siding. Another camp established at Kingledoors (now Kingledores), with Kingledoors Siding with a 700ft siding.
  /03/1897Talla Railway
Line construction reaches from Rachan Junction to the incomplete Tweedsmuir Viaduct over the River Tweed.
20/08/1897Talla Railway
Tweedsmuir Viaduct completed and line fully opened.
29/09/1897Talla Railway
Official opening following completion of the Tweedsmuir Viaduct over the River Tweed, the Tweedsmuir Express runs from Edinburgh Princes Street to the future site of Victoria Lodge to inspect works and lay the foundation stone.
08/09/1899Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway
Derailment of Talla Railway locomotive and train at Broughton [2nd]. Locomotive prohibited from the Caledonian Railway.
26/10/1899Talla Railway
James Young and Sons bankrupt.
  /12/1899Talla Railway
John Best takes over the Talla Reservoir dam contact and the Talla Railway.
  /  /1900Talla Railway
Clay is sourced from near Carluke. The Caledonian Railway works 2 or 3 trains a day to Broughton [2nd] for the dam.
  /  /1900Talla Railway
Stanhope Siding laid in around this date, 400ft long, for pipe handling.
20/05/1905Talla Railway
Valve opening ceremony at Talla Reservoir.
28/09/1905Talla Railway
Talla Reservoir officially opened; two trains run from Edinburgh Princes Street.
29/09/1905Talla Railway
Talla Railway closed.
22/07/1907Talla Railway
Edinburgh and District Water Trustees - agreement with the Caledonian Railway.
  /  /1910Talla Railway
Talla Railway materials offered for sale.
  /  /1912Talla Railway
Talla Railway completely lifted (Dismantled by P. and W. MacLellan Ltd of Glasgow).

Portions of line and locations

This line is divided into a number of portions.


Broughton to Talla

This single track line ran south of Rachan to various work sites and Victoria Lodge and the dam at Talla Reservoir.

This was a three platform station, the line is now closed.
...

More details

See also
Symington, Biggar and Broughton Extension Railway (Caledonian Railway)
Approaching the meagre remains of Broughton station heading east towards Peebles along the trackbed of the Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway on ...
John Furnevel 26/12/2011
Station remains at Broughton on the former Caledonian Symington - Peebles route, seen here in December 2011. The surviving structure is part of the ...
John Furnevel 26/12/2011
Looking west towards the former Broughton station site from the A701 bridge in 2005. ...
John Furnevel 30/11/2005
Looking west towards the former Broughton station. ...
Ewan Crawford //
4 of 13 images. more


This was not a true junction. Two single track lines ran east from Broughton [2nd] to Rachan. The northern was the Caledonian Railway's line from Symington [2nd] east to Peebles [2nd] and the southern was the Talla Railway, built for the construction of the Talla Reservoir. This was the location where the lines parted company.
...

More details

See also
Symington, Biggar and Broughton Extension Railway (Caledonian Railway)
Rachan Junction looking east. The Talla Railway drops down gently to the right while the main line continues to the left en route to Peebles. The ...
Ewan Crawford 06/01/2013
Just east of Rachan Junction the Peebles line passes through a deep (and flooded) cutting before emerging here. View west along the trackbed of the ...
Ewan Crawford 06/01/2013
A mile east of Rachan Junction the lonely trackbed of the Caledonian Railway's extension east from Broughton to Peebles stretches off into a wild ...
Ewan Crawford 06/01/2013
At first glance the tyre tracks along the frosty embankment give the impression of rails still in place. View is west towards Broughton along the ...
John Furnevel 30/11/2005
4 of 4 images.


This loop was located on the Talla Railway just south of Rachan Junction (not a junction, but meeting of lines) east of Broughton [2nd] station where the lines actually met. It may have been an exchange yard.
...

More details


This short siding, on the west side of the line and approached from the north, was just south of Rachan Loop and Rachan Junction and the bridge over the Biggar Water. The line climbed away from here to reach Talla Reservoir dam.
...

More details
View north from the B712 near Drumelzier, just south of Broughton in November 2005. The cutting took the Talla Railway under a now infilled road ...
John Furnevel 30/11/2005
The surviving abutment of the bridge south of Rachan Farm near Broughton which carried the Talla line shortly after it left the SB&B and turned ...
John Furnevel 30/11/2005
2 of 2 images.


This was a major construction camp for the Talla Reservoir with stores, workshops and offices for the work. There was a loop on the Talla Railway and a siding, with headshunt on the west side.
...

More details


This was a 400ft long siding for pipe handling.
...

More details
Remains of a very fancy bridge over the line north of Stanhope Siding. Only the concrete supports remain. ...
Ewan Crawford 26/12/2011
This is the footbridge which crossed the Talla Railway south of Stanhope, now a skeleton with removal of the walking surface and one end of the ...
Ewan Crawford 26/12/2011
Looking south over the Tweed valley in the early 2000s, with the embankment of the Talla Railway in the foreground. This location is to the south of ...
Bill Roberton //
Henry Moore eat your heart out. The surviving piers of a long abandoned bridge over the trackbed of the Talla railway north of the Crook Inn, in ...
John Furnevel 11/10/2003
4 of 4 images.


This was a secondary construction camp for the Talla Reservoir. There was a 700ft long siding. The site is now known as Kingledores.
...

More details


In 1899 contractor John Best laid down a timber platform alongside the locomotive replenishing water tank to the west of the Crook Inn (in which he had a share) on the Talla Railway.
...

More details
Remains of the locomotive facilities at Crook on the Talla Railway on 25 April 2009, unused for more than a century. View is north towards Broughton, ...
John Furnevel 25/04/2009
The remains of the water tower still standing alongside the trackbed of the Talla Railway, photographed looking west from the A701 in the summer of ...
John Furnevel 11/08/2008
Remains of the Talla Railway looking south towards Tweedsmuir from the car park of the Crook Inn on 25 April 2009. The long gone wooden platform stood ...
John Furnevel 25/04/2009
Looking south east along the trackbed of the Talla Railway between Broughton and Victoria Lodge on 13 November 2004. The old Crook Inn stands off to ...
John Furnevel 13/11/2004
4 of 5 images. more


This siding was on the west side of the line, approached from the south, just north of Tweedsmuir Viaduct. In addition to being a siding it probably protected the line as the railway climbed south to Talla Reservoir dam.
...

More details


This viaduct crosses the River Tweed. It no longer carries a railway but does carry a waterpipe. It crosses the river with a 100ft long steel bowstring. The abutments, complete with unused stone tablets, are of fine granite quarried in Italy.
...

More details
A close view of the girder viaduct which formerly carried the Talla Railway over the River Tweed at Glenrusco. Those blank panels make it look like ...
Ewan Crawford 26/11/2011
The viaduct that once carried the Talla Railway over the Tweed at Glenrusco near Tweedsmuir and which now carries part of Edinburgh's water supply. ...
John Furnevel 13/11/2004
The trackbed and viaduct at Glenrusco near Tweedsmuir in 2004 looking towards Victoria Lodge. Closed to rail traffic a century earlier, but still in ...
John Furnevel 13/11/2004
3 of 3 images.


This was a quarry siding with a length of 550ft. It was for extraction of whinstone. The siding was south of Tweedsmuir Viaduct, on the east side of the line and approached from the south. There was a quarry just to the south.
...

More details
View north along the Talla Railway trackbed near Tweedsmuir on 26 December 2011. Amazingly not only has the trackbed's ballast survived here but the ...
Ewan Crawford 26/12/2011
1 of 1 images.


This was the terminus of the Edinburgh and District Water Trust Service Railway from Broughton [2nd]. There was a platform on the east side of the line with the grand Victoria Lodge itself above to the east, up a flight of steps, and the Talla Reservoir dam to the south.
...

More details
Victoria Lodge in February 2006 - below the light on the right of the picture, alongside the main entrance, is the commemorative stone laid on 29th ...
John Furnevel 01/02/2006
Rear wall of boardroom at Victoria Lodge with the seals of the corporations of Leith (left) and Edinburgh above the doors. February 2006. ...
John Furnevel 01/02/2006
Still not amused... the entrance hall at Victoria Lodge - February 2006. ...
John Furnevel 01/02/2006
Victoria Lodge terminus and yard from the top of Talla dam in March 2004 - the end of the platform can be seen in the gap between the trees in the ...
John Furnevel 27/03/2004
4 of 22 images. more





Nearby

Looking south from the dam on the Talla Reservoir. ...
Ewan Crawford //1997
Talla - looking south over the reservoir in 2006. The trustees had a view over Talla from the boardroom at the Lodge - which, with the help of a glass ...
John Furnevel 01/02/2006
Looking across Talla from the east shore in 2005. Note the cobblestones lining the dam. During the construction phase a line ran along the top of the ...
John Furnevel 30/11/2005
3 of 3 images.


'Time gentlemen....PLEASE!' ...the landlord called, from his bunker at the far end of the car park. All part of that special Friday night ...
John Furnevel 13/11/2004
1 of 1 images.


The church at Tweedsmuir, about a mile from the former railhead at Victoria Lodge, in November 2005. The faded headstone in memory of those who were ...
John Furnevel 30/11/2005
The memorial stone to the 30+ workers killed during the construction of Talla reservoir showing the crossed pick & shovel. Tweedsmuir ...
John Furnevel 30/11/2005
Sadly, not all made it to the Crook Inn on those infamous Friday nights in the early 1900s. The Talla Memorial stone, stands near the main gate of ...
John Furnevel 30/11/2005
3 of 3 images.