The new Borders Railway
First Day of the Waverley Route
© Geoff’s Rail Diaries 2015
Geoff’s Rail Diaries
6 September 2015
The first public train from Edinburgh to Galashiels and
Tweedbank would be the 9.11am from Waverley,
Sunday 6th September. I bought my ticket well in
advance - I had to be on it, hadn’t I?
I had travelled the line on the day it closed - 5 January
1969. Our special from Leeds was the last train to travel
the whole line northbound - a service train followed ours
from Hawick northwards. “I was on it from Galashiels”,
my companion explained. Not someone I knew - we met in the
queue at Waverley (thanks for your company, Robin). Like mine,
his journey was a “must-do-it”.
I’d joined that queue more than an hour before departure,
facing a long wait, but time went quickly in the carnival-like
atmosphere. I’d half-expected the train to be jam-packed, but
in the event there were some spare seats (six-car 170) - and as I
looked around, I realised that most of the passengers had
probably travelled over the line previously. The under-46s would
perhaps travel later.
In recent years, I’ve spent a great deal of time studying and
showing photographs of the old Waverley - they didn’t help
much! Other than very obvious features like the Newbattle
viaduct at Lothianbridge, and the new concrete viaduct over the
A7 nearby, there are few visible objects that featured in those
old photos. The station building remains at Gorebridge, but
there’s no sign of that towering signal box at Hardengreen, or
the junction there for the Peebles loop. The mile or so through
Shawfair is on a completely new formation, needed to get
the line under the Edinburgh southern bypass. From
Tynehead, however, the ground is a little more familiar -
feels like only yesterday that I was last here...
As we follow the Gala Water southwards, the on-train
announcement (an English voice) tells us that the “next
station stop will be Stow” (rhyming with snow). In unison,
my fellow travellers call out “Stow!” (rhyming with
plough)
A little under an hour after leaving Waverley, we’re in
Tweedbank (aka “Bruach Thuaidh” - though I don’t think there
are many Gaelic speakers down here) - and once again, there’s a
happy atmosphere. There’s time for a few photos before
rejoining the train from the return trip - we’ll sit at the other
side and enjoy a different view on this glorious sunny day.
There are a few formidable obstacles along the first mile or two
beyond Tweedbank - the route has been utilised for the Melrose
bypass. Otherwise, the trackbed to Hawick appears to be more-
or-less intact. I won’t be holding my breath, but wouldn’t it be
great if, one day, I can buy a return to Hawick?
Links:
•
Last Day of the Waverley Route
•
By Gala Water
•
Borders Railway
