Ladhope Tunnel: Ladhope Tunnel looking north. The view looks towards Edinburgh at the spot the 1916 landslip occurred. The retaining wall to the right has a second of similar height above it. Alterations in favour of the road here have left the tunnel with an unaltered double track entry at the north end and sort of single track exit at the south end.

Watherston Bridge: Winter view towards Edinburgh along the valley of the Gala Water north of Stow on 17 January 2009 with the trackbed of the Waverley route running alongside the river.

Grange-over-Sands: A Lancaster bound Northern bubble car 153360 heads for Arnside viaduct along the embankment with the Kent estuary alongside. Grange-over-Sands signal box is switched out at weekends giving a block section from Arnside to Ulverston.

Ulverston: A Manchester Airport service, on time at 12 noon, with 185129 leaves Ulverston station with its restored building and canopies. The cars on the right are in a dealership that occupies the old Furness Railway terminus station See image [[22211]]. View west towards Barrow-in-Furness.

Heriot: View north towards Heriot in low winter sun on 17 January 2009. The station site is in the left background and the platform edge can be clearly seen.

Angling Club Cottage: View looking west at the former Angling Club Cottage. The platform and waiting shelter were to the left. See image [[31487]]

Galabank Bridge: Old railway bridge on the Waverley Route at Galabank, photographed looking east on 17 January 2009.

Dalton: The view east at Dalton towards Ulverston, showing the former station building, now a private house, and the new waiting shelters beyond. To the right of the bridge over the railway a second, now blocked up bridge, can be seen. This previously afforded access to the goods yard, now built over. Dalton enjoys a reasonable level of service by Northern Rail trains between Barrow and Lancaster.

Dalton: A view west from Dalton station towards the short tunnel beyond which is the junction between the line to Barrow and the direct link to the coast line at Dalton Junction See image [[11905]]. The houses occupy the former goods yard.

Heriot: View south from the former level crossing at Heriot on 17 January 2009. Just over 9 miles further on from here lies the village of Stow, where a new station is to be built, thus becoming the first stop in the Scottish Borders on the reopened Waverley route to Tweedbank.

Roose: Roose, on the outskirts of Barrow in Furness, has been reduced to basic facilities but still enjoys a reasonable service of trains between Barrow and Lancaster. The housing development that can be seen in this picture should assist patronage. View towards Furness Abbey and Dalton.

Ulverston: The original Furness Railway passenger terminus at Ulverston only lasted 20 years until 1874 when it was replaced by the current through station. It survived for many years as a railway goods depot, alongside its replacement, but has now been converted into a Mercedes showroom that retains many original railway features including the glazed frontage.

Grange-over-Sands: The footbridge at the eastern end of Grange promenade provides an excellent vantage point. Looking back towards the station 153360 is seen leaving for Lancaster on a service that started at Sellafield.

Paterson's No 1 Siding: There are a number of safe recesses along the massive retaining wall between the former Galashiels station and Ladhope Tunnel. At 1600 on the 14th of December 1916 there was an enormous landslip here when 70 yards of cutting collapsed blocking the mainline for many days. Before the fall the original retaining wall was buttressed, then reinforced with rails, before the gaps between buttresses were bricked up. But cracks kept reappearing and repairs were in hand when the landslip took place, the workmen barely having time to escape. The impressive rebuilt walls remain intact today.

Kilnknowe Junction: The former course of the A72 west of Galashiels in a view looking west in 2009. The Peebles line passed under here, its course now infilled. See image [[49611]]. The road itself has been realigned to the south.

Galashiels [1st]: View along the Borders Railway trackbed at Galashiels from the Tweedbank direction on 17 January 2009. The new bridge over Station Brae stands at what is now the northern end of the ASDA car park. Striding off under the bridge is you-know-who, this time with the intention of heading along the Peebles Railway route towards Walkerburn. (The missing bridges could present a challenge on this one!)

Grange-over-Sands: The heavy stone construction of Grange-over-Sands station looks like it was designed to stand the worst of storms. In fact the coast faces east at this point and is very sheltered. The climate is noticeably mild too so the promenade alongside the line is noted for its palms and colourful plants.This picture looks towards Ulverston.

Ulverston: With the South Lakeland fells visible in the background, Transpennine Unit 185129 heads east after calling at Ulverston on its way from Barrow in Furness to Manchester Airport. The train will shortly cross the Levens Estuary viaduct before continuing round the coast of Morecambe Bay to Grange-over-Sands and beyond.

Kilnknowe Junction: Kilnknowe Junction looking away from Galashiels. The single track of the Peebles line passed through the left arch and that of the Waverley route through the right. It seems to me that the embankment on the left creeps ever closer as the years pass.

Ladhope Tunnel: Interior of the Ladhope Tunnel looking towards Galashiels station in 2009 showing the alteration to the southern portal ... which will probably need undoing ... see image [[44671]]

Torwoodlee South Viaduct: The southern of the two viaducts at Torwoodlee looking north towards the tunnel with Kilnknowe Junction some distance behind the camera.

Angling Club Cottage: The view east along the trackbed of the Peebles Railway towards Clovenfords in January 2009. The location is high above the River Tweed in the vicinity of the former Angling Club Cottage - essentially a platform opened in 1898 to serve members of the Edinburgh Angling Club and eventually closed in the late 1940s. See image [[31488]]

Thornielee: In need of some work but featuring original cast-iron fireplace. A draughty ex lineside hut midway between Thornielee and Clovenfords. View looks west. Many of the lineside huts survive on the Peebles loop, unlike this one.

Ulverston: In the days of slam door stock Ulverston's layout, allowing passengers to leave from either side of the train, would require real vigilance from station staff and train guards alike. Modern trains with guard controlled sliding doors do not pose such problems. The layout was intended to facilitate easy cross platform interchange to Lakeside branch trains in what is a very cramped location. This view towards Barrow shows the restored canopies to good effect.

Glossop: Although Glossop is in NW Derbyshire, it is served by Northern trains operating on behalf of Greater Manchester PTE. On 17 January 2010 unit 323235 has arrived at the single platform terminus from Manchester Piccadilly. Once the crew have changed ends the service will then depart for Hadfield.

Glossop: 323235 arrives at Glossop on 17 January 2010 with a service from Manchester Piccadilly. The unit reversed here before proceeding to Hadfield.

Riccarton Oil Terminal: 66238 stands at Riccarton Oil Terminal, Kilmarnock, on 17 January 2011 about to return empties on train 6D61, the 10.22 to Grangemouth.

Glasgow Central: 221139 at Platform 2 of Glasgow Central on 17 January 2011 awaiting departure with a CrossCountry service to Penzance.

South St Andrew Street: South St Andrew Street being prepared for tram lines on 17 January 2012. This will provide the link from Princes Street to the stop at St Andrew Square.

Edinburgh Waverley: Waverley Steps (and escalators) taking shape on 17 January 2012, with the Balmoral Hotel on the right.

Eskbank and Dalkeith: View towards Edinburgh from the A768 at the north end of the old Eskbank station on 17 January. The interesting looking bridge carries the B6392 Melville Road over the trackbed.

Gorebridge: View south over the station site at Gorebridge on 17 January 2014.

Eskbank and Dalkeith: Remains of Eskbank and Dalkeith station in January 2014, with the footbridge and most of the old platform structures now removed. Photograph taken from the A768 road bridge looking south along the former Waverley route towards Newtongrange, with preparatory work underway on raising the bridge parapet in the foreground.

Newtongrange: Work in progress at the Borders Railway station site at Newtongrange on 17 January 2014.

Hardengreen Viaduct: 'Got it...' Construction work on the northern support for the Borders Railway bridge over Hardengreen Roundabout in progress on 17 January 2014.

Sheriffhall City Bypass Overbridge: Looking along the Borders Railway route north towards the breached section of the Edinburgh City Bypass at Sheriffhall on 17 January 2014, with the high capacity crane now back on site. Road traffic is currently using the temporary bypass route.

Broughty Ferry: The 10.43 departure for Glasgow Queen Street pulls into Broughty Ferry, Scotland's oldest operational station, on Friday 17 January. Note the barrel-train planter adopted by the local Rotary, standing on the right.

Eskbank and Dalkeith: Looking south from the A6094 road bridge along the Waverley trackbed on 17 January 2014 towards the site of the new Eskbank station in the distance. The original 1847 station site is immediately behind the camera on the north side of the bridge.

Hardengreen Viaduct: View south west over Hardengreen roundabout on 17 January showing the south tower of the Borders Railway bridge under construction.

Breakwater Junction: This once rather neglected part of Granton, Edinburgh see image [[33048 for map]] has been transformed during my years away from the city and in January 2015 a wide boulevard crosses the site of the junction. View is north east towards the Forth near the point where the line split for the Breakwater branch (left) and CR Granton Goods.

Culloden Viaduct: 66305 crossing Culloden Viaduct with the southbound container empties for Mossend during a clear and still winter afternoon on 17 January 2015.

Pilton West Junction: Part of the almost intact Granton Gasworks station is visible through the petrol station on the left on 17 January 2015. See image [[33048]] The cycleway, frosted on this chilly morning, follows the CR goods branch to Granton harbour.

Granton Gasworks [Station]: Morning winter sunshine catches this fine Edwardian building on 17 January 2015. Try and imagine hordes of men with bunnets (flat caps) and moustaches pouring out of workmen's trains towards the huge gasworks to the left. The tram competiton stopped a mile short at Granton Square. This part of Edinburgh has been transformed in recent years by the ongoing Waterfront project, but this building and one preserved gasometer survive. See image [[33048]]

West Didsbury: A Manchester bound tram (3070) calls at West Didsbury on 17th January. The original Withington & West Didsbury railway station, closed in 1961, lay just beyond the overbridge but the new tram station is much better located for the village centre.

Windermere: TPE 185146 cautiously approaches the Windermere terminus crossing Thwaites Lane bridge on a snowy 17th January 2016. The train is the 1202 arrival from Lancaster, the first train of the day on winter Sundays.

Windermere: The 3-car TPE Class 185 units have been the staple traction on the Windermere branch since 2007 (replacing Class 175s that were transferred to Wales) but the new franchises in April 2016 saw this line move to Northern and some services are now being run by Class 156 Sprinters. 185146 has just arrived at Windermere and is ready to form the 1206 to Oxenholme on 17th January 2016.

Kirkconnel: The 11.25 to Carlisle (156 431) departs south into the mirk.

Cowlairs Incline: An update on the final stretch of OHLE wiring between the top of the incline and the tunnel... Catenary wires and hangers have now appeared and just the contact conductor to be strung now so can't be long now until the line goes live and we see how the 385's handle the climb from Queen St.

Glasgow Central: Model Rail Scotland returns to the SECC, Glasgow, in 2017 from Friday the 24th to Sunday the 26th of February.

Model Rail 2017

Fauldhouse: A Glasgow to Edinburgh service pulls into Fauldhouse on an icy 17 January 2019. The building in the background is the store for Scottish prisons. I suppose there has to be one and it has to be somewhere.

Upminster: 357011, with a C2C service to Shoeburyness via Basildon, departing from Upminster on 17th January 2019. This station is also the eastern terminus of the District Line whose platforms are on the left with, further left, a single side platform for the Romford branch which became an isolated section of the Overground network in May 2015.

Edinburgh Waverley: On 17 January 2019 an Aberdeen service prepares to depart Waverely with an as-yet unbranded 43003 at the head. Appearance of HSTs on Inter7City routes is intermittent, and the following day this service was back to being a 3-car 170.

Harringay Green Lanes: 172001 catches the winter sun as it arrives at Harringay Green Lanes, with a London Overground GOBLIN service from Barking to Gospel Oak, on 17th January 2019. This is the fourth name for this station, it began life as Harringay Park and has been known variously over the years as Harringay Stadium and Harringay East before its present name was bestowed upon it.

Barking: 357315, with a C2C service to Fenchurch Street, departing from Barking on 17th January 2019.

Barking: LUL S7, stock with a District Line service to Upminster, departing from Barking on 17th January 2019. On the right can be seen 357315 arriving with a C2C service to Fenchurch Street.

South Tottenham West Junction: View from 172001, just departed from South Tottenham station, with a GOBLIN service to Gospel Oak and showing the now-singled spur to the Enfield Town line at Seven Sisters, on 17th January 2019. This spur was used by the former North Woolwich to Palace Gates (Wood Green) service that ceased on 7th January 1963. On 16th October 1967, it was traversed by a RCTS railtour that I was a passenger on. This same tour also visited the eastern section of the former North London Railway between Dalston Western Junction and Poplar, then freight only and long before the section through Hackney was reopened to passengers and the Docklands Light Railway was even thought of.

Abbeyhill Junction: Even the leafless January vegetation gets in the way of what would otherwise be a decent viewpoint in Regent Road Park. Therefore please think of this as a location shot which happens to have a (Dunbar to Waverley) train in it. The course of the curve to Abbeyhill can just be made out on the left

Glasgow Queen Street High Level: Queen Street is turning Gold! 17th January 2020.

Carron Water Bridge [East Croft of Carmont]: A view of damage to the parapet of the viaduct over the Carron Water north of East Croft of Carmont and a little west of the former Dunnotar Signal Box.

Carron Water Bridge [East Croft of Carmont]: A close up of the damaged parapet on the Carron Water Bridge, which collapsed the previous day on 16th January 2021 (See news item). Network Rail engineers can be seen firing up the chainsaw so I might get some better photos once the trees have been felled, but my Apple Watch tells me this will involve another hike of 9.19 miles.

Carron Water Bridge [East Croft of Carmont]: The day after the parapet of the Carron Water bridge collapsed the debris can be seen littering the embankment. The river channel was improved during summer 2020, to prevent the viaduct being undermined, but this damage has occurred 'top down'. This was the scene on 17th January 2021 with line closed and engineers on site.

Carron Water Bridge [East Croft of Carmont]: On 17th January 2021, even the Network Rail chopper (G-NTWK) was in on the act at the scene of the Carron Water bridge parapet collapse, but it did not come low enough for me to get it and the bridge in the same photo.

Carron Water Bridge [East Croft of Carmont]: A close up of the Carron Water Bridge near Carmont on 17th January 2021, the day after the parapet collapsed causing the line to be closed again. This image shows how the collapsing stonework has also pulled down the guard rails and exposed the trackbed and ballast.