You really need a map to make sense of the confusion of
lines which filled the eastern wedge of Edinburgh see image 31418. This is the point wher e goods-only Lothian Lines 'main' line was crossed by the A1, seen here on 30 October 2010. It split into 3 behind me at Niddrie North. In 1972, with the line gone, the area was taken over by an early out-of-town hypermarket (what a wonder, but by today's standards quite modest) and this was the route between the store and the petrol station. Asda was resited in the 1980s to make way for a dual carriageway and a new link to Portobello called after Sir Harry Lauder (a local man) which follows the route of the Lothian Lines over the ECML. Keeping coal traffic bound for Leith Docks clear of the ECML was the line's raison d'etre.
Location: Niddrie North Junction [Lothian Lines]
Original line: Lothian Lines (North British Railway)
Photographer: David Panton
Contact photographer: David Panton
Date: 30/10/2010
Image number: 31419