Date: 11/12/2009

A LOCOMOTIVE has returned to the Waverley Line for the first time in over 40 years. And while Scottish Ministers, councillors and officials dither over the re-opening of the Waverley route from Edinburgh to Tweedbank, the 0-6-0 diesel hydraulic takes pride of place 12 miles south of Hawick.

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Full steam ahead for WRHA after arrival of locomotive

Hawick News Item

A LOCOMOTIVE has returned to the Waverley Line for the first time in over 40 years.

Related images

Snow on Whitrope. A4 Pacific no 60023 Golden Eagle, having just breasted the summit, takes a train south past Whitrope cottages in the 1960s, with the signal box completely hidden by the locomotive's exhaust. This location is now the headquarters of the Waverley Route Heritage Association.
Location: Whitrope Siding
Company: Border Union Railway (North British Railway)
// Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney)

Located approximately 12 miles south of Hawick, between Shankend and Riccarton Junction, is the 1,208 yard Whitrope Tunnel, the south portal of which is seen here on 10 July 2009. The tunnel, noted as Scotland's fourth longest, is currently a listed structure (Category B). The rails in the photograph represent the northern extent of the relaying undertaken by the Waverley Route Heritage Association, whose volunteers have carried out considerable work associated with the tunnel and the Whitrope site in general. The WRHA centre and car park is located alongside the B6399 road just to the south of this point. [See image 32810]
Location: Whitrope Tunnel
Company: Border Union Railway (North British Railway)
10/07/2009 John Furnevel

Shortly after leaving the south portal of Whitrope Tunnel, an A3 Pacific, steaming freely and running under clear signals, tops Whitrope summit as it heads south towards Riccarton Junction with an express freight in the 1960s. [See image 24658]
Location: Whitrope Summit
Company: Border Union Railway (North British Railway)
// Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney)