42737 with Scottish Rambler No 3 at Beattock summit on 29 March 1964. On the left is the private platform and coach used by the Siege train which ran daily between the summit and Beattock station to enable families of railway workers living in cottages and hamlets along the way to do their shopping etc in Moffat. (The nickname derived from the Siege of Mafeking which was front page news in 1900 when the service started.) No date can been found for the official closure of the platform or withdrawal of the train, which was still running in 1965. One interesting bi-product of this service was that, in addition to the locomotive diagrammed to handle the train (invariably one of Beattock's bankers), any locomotive waiting to return to Beattock shed would be attached for the run back down the bank, so it was not uncommon for the southbound train to consist of 3 locomotives and 1 coach.

Location: Beattock Summit

Original line: Caledonian Railway

Photographer: Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney)

Contact photographer: Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney)

Contact editor

Date: 29/03/1964

Image number: 21751

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