Rachan Junction
Location type
JunctionName and dates
Rachan Junction (1897-1905)Opened on the Symington, Biggar and Broughton Extension Railway (Caledonian Railway).
Opened on the Talla Railway.
Description
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.
The Rachan Catchpoints were to the south east, protecting the line from runaways as it was a continuous climb south to Talla Reservoir.
The Talla line opened in 1897 and closed in 1905 after the official opening of the reservoir.
A temporary signal box 'Talla Junction' opened between the 10th and 28th of July 1906. This was during the Border Show held in Peebles on the 17th. (Such was the volume of traffic that another temporary box opened at Lyne and another on the competing North British Railway's Peebles Railway called Peebles Engine Shed Signal Box South.)
Tags
Junction
| Nearby stations Broughton [1st] Broughton [2nd] Stobo Biggar Crook Lyne Coulter Victoria Lodge Dolphinton [NB] Dolphinton [CR] Symington [1st] Symington [2nd] Peebles [CR] Dunsyre Peebles Old | Rachan Loop Biggar Water Bridge [Talla Railway] Biggar Water Bridge Rachan Catchpoints Mossfennan Siding Stanhope Siding Kingledoors Siding Causewayend Siding Lyne Viaduct Nether Oliver Siding Tweedsmuir Viaduct Tourist/other Stobo Castle Crook Inn Biggar Gas Works Museum Coulter Motte |
| Location names in dark blue are on the same original line. | |
Chronology Dates
| 28/09/1895 | Talla 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. |
| / /1896 | Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway Caledonian Railway completes laying second line between Broughton [2nd] and Rachan Junction for the Talla Railway. |
| /03/1897 | Talla Railway Line construction reaches from Rachan Junction to the incomplete Tweedsmuir Viaduct over the River Tweed. |
Books
 Peebles Railways | Peebles Railways |  The Railways of Peebles (Through Time) |
