Starting Point - Foot of the Walk Tram Stop, Leith. Finishing Point - Site of Warriston Junction. Distance - 2.7 Miles
Leith is a suburb of Edinburgh to the north of the centre and home to the city's docks. As such it was well connected by railways with the North British Railway and Caledonian Railway both having multiple routes between Edinburgh and Leith. In the 1960s it lost all passenger services and the docks declined leaving Leith itself facing decline in the following decades of the 20th Century. In more recent years the Royal Yacht Britannia has brought tourism to Leith and areas of former docklands have been regenerated with shops, apartments and offices. The Scottish Government has office buildings on a former dock warehouse site. The new tram route from Edinburgh has also improved connections.
Below - 1905 Railway Clearing House map of the area (taken from Wikipedia, Public Domain). The North British lines are in Blue and the Caledonian in red.
Below - The tram stop for the central shopping area of Leith is the "Foot of the Walk" stop on a pedestrianised part of Constitution Street. The tramway at this point is following an original tram route. It was largely the use of trams to reach the centre of Edinburgh rather than the railway lines that led to the early closure of Leith Central station.
Just south of the Foot of the Walk tram stop is what was once the main passenger station for Leith, the North British Railway's Leith Central.
LEITH CENTRAL
Leith Central station opened in 1903 and closed in 1952, it had four platforms.
Below - The station building of Leith Central station survives today.
Below - The station building seen from the south side. Leith Central was a terminus station with platforms at first floor level, the former access to the platforms can be seen on the right. The platforms were once covered with a large overall roof.
After the station closed to the public it was used until 1972 to stable diesel multiple units that started and finished in passenger service at Edinburgh Waverley. In the years of dereliction that followed it became a notorious hang out for drug addicts, the film Trainspotting gets its name from the site.
Below - The former platform entrances where the glass building can be seen.
Below - The former taxi entrance off Crown Place.
Below - The platform level has been removed and a Tesco supermarket built at ground level. In the car park the retaining wall can be seen. It is evident where the level of the track was. On the right a tenement block can be seen, note how the middle of the block is a lighter colour, this is where the gap through which the railway passed has been filled with a more modern section of building.
The short branch between Leith Central and Abbeyhill Junction to the east of Edinburgh Waverley has been built on so I went instead to other remains of the North British Railway in the area.
Heading north along Constitution Street (following the tram line) brings us to the site of one of the earliest railway stations, South Leith.
SOUTH LEITH
South Leith station dated back to 1832, just called Leith station a the time, and can be seen on the corner of Constitution Street and Tower Street on the old map above. It closed in 1846, reopened as South Leith in 1859 and finally closed in 1903 when Leith Central opened. The site has been redeveloped and there is nothing to be seen of the early station. The tramway crosses the site as it continues along Constitution Street.
West of South Leith stations were Victoria Dock, West Old Dock and East Old Dock. West Old Dock and East Old Dock have been filled in and car parking built on the site. The former dock front on the south side of these docks is now Commercial Quay and rails can be seen set in to the road. The former warehouse between the site of Victoria Dock and East Old Dock is now the site of Scottish Government offices.
Below - Pictures heading east to west along Commercial Quay showing tracks set in to the former dockside now taken up by car parking.
Below - The line curving off to the left headed towards North Leith station and its goods shed.
Below - The point on the left was for a siding alongside the warehouses. On the 1895 map above the lines ran straight ahead and across the road to connect with the Caledonian Railway at their North Leith station and goods shed. By the time of the 1908 map the curve further up round the end of West Old Dock to reach Victoria Dock was added. By the 1933 map the connection across the road to the Caledonian Railway was removed, both railways by that time being part of the London & North Eastern Railway. Wagons could still reach the former Caledonian Railway line via a connection on the approach to Victoria Dock.
NORTH LEITH
North Leith station opened in 1846 and closed to passengers in 1947, it closed to freight in 1968. In 1952 the name of the site was changed to Leith Citadel, probably to avoid confusion with Leith North on the former Caledonian line.
Below - The former North Leith station building.
Below - The former public house that adjoined the station building.
Below - site of the platforms at North Leith. Houses have been built on the former goods shed site.
South of the station the tracks went in tunnel under Couper Street and Coburg Street. In front of the former tunnel mouth a staircase has been built to give pedestrian access between Couper Street and the houses on the goods yard site.
Below - Retaining wall on the approach to the tunnel seen from the staircase that hides the tunnel mouth.
From Coalie Park, established on the former Coal Depot site, the Water of Leith Path follows the former North British Railway Line as far as Bonnington.
Below - Information board in Coalie Park (click to enlarge).
JUNCTION ROAD
Below - Site of the railway passing under Junction Bridge. Junction Road station was just beyond the station.
Below - Looking back towards North Leith from the site of Junction Road station.
Below - A path in North Leith Public Park, now Keddie Park, that ended at the edge of the railway cutting has been extended with steps to join the path on the former railway.
Below - South Fort Street bridge. On the left was the rail connected Junction Mills.
Below - Industrial buildings on Pitt Street along the railway cutting.
1914 Map (top left of page)
Below - Former goods branch on the left to various industrial sites in the area.
BONNINGTON
Below - The former Bonnington Station.
Below - The main station building on the left on the former Edinburgh bound platform.
Below - The bridge taking Newhaven Road over the station site.
Below - The bridge has been widened on both sides. The steps to the road from the plaform can be seen on the left. It looks like there was a waiting shelter here before the bridge was widened.
Below - Remains of the viaduct that carried the Caledonian Railway's goods line around Leith over a three way junction on the North British here and over the Water of Leith river.
Below - What appears to be a pier of the Caledonian viaduct.
The three way junction I mentioned was two sides of a triangle with the North British Railway's Abbeyhill to Granton line. The side of the triangle south towards Abbeyhill crossed the Water of Leith twice using two bridges and a stretch of embankment. These have gone so I didn't follow this path which instead now follows the river as a continuation of the Water of Leith path. At the southern end of the triangle junction was Powederhall station. Beyond Powderhall the line to Abbeyhill remained in use for waste traffic in to the 21st Century and the now disused trackbed is not accessible. The side of the triangle north towards Granton has been built on. I headed straight on along what now becomes the Warriston Path.
Below - The former flat crossing with the North British Railway's Abbeyhill to Granton line. This is the other side of the triangular junction and this part of the route is a footpath most of the way from Powderhall to Granton so I'll go back at some point for that route.
Below - Bridge taking Warriston Road over the former railway.
Below - Bridge over a road within Warriston Cemetery with ornate decorations.
Below - The former Warriston Junction looking towards the NBR's line from Edinburgh Canal Street / Scotland Street to Granton with the line that I have just walked from North Leith on the right.
Below - Viaduct over the Water of Leith and Warriston Road.
SCOTLAND STREET
From Warriston Junction the line continued to Edinburgh Canal Street station next to the site of the present day Edinburgh Waverley station (a plaque marks the location) via a couple of tunnels. I hadn't realised that the tunnel between Broughton Road and Scotland Street is now open and I returned to Leith from Warriston Junction. At some point I'll check out the site of Scotland Street on another visit to the area.
Scotland Street had a station and goods yard. The station closed in 1868 when the next stretch of tunnel to Edinburgh Canal Street which had been worked by rope and winding engine was closed. The goods yard continued in use. On the RCH Map above the truncated Scotland Street Goods branch can be seen.
Once returned to Leith I continued exploring old railways around Leith with the former Caledonian Railway lines.
