Starting Point - Site of Leith Walk Goods Station. Finishing Point - Site of Edinburgh Princess Street station. Distance 6.3 Miles
I had a couple of days in Leith, staying in a hotel there. After a walk of the North British Railway lines around Leith I concentrated my attention on some of the Caledonian Railway lines.
Below - 1905 Railway Clearing House map of the area (taken from Wikipedia, Public Domain). The Caledonian Railway lines are shown in red (Click to Enlarge).
LEITH WALK (GOODS)
Before heading to the site of Leith North station to walk the former line to Edinburgh Princes Street I visited a remnant of the goods line that orbited Leith to the south to reach South Leith Docks and South Leith Goods. Just south of the North British Railway's Leith Central station the goods line crossed Leith Walk on a bridge. Either side of Leith Walk the former railway arches remain.
Below - Looking towards South Leith Dock, the lighter colour brick at the top of the abutment is where the bridge once was and the wall has been filled with more modern brick. Around this some remnants of the bridge girders can be seen where it has been cut away from the walls. The trackbed is wider than necessary for two tracks as if it was designed for a station to be provided here. Either side of the filled in trackbed there looks to be space for platforms. There were a number of alternative railway schemes considered so perhaps this was constructed to potentially provide passenger facilities on the line but in the end it was only used for passing goods trains.
Below - Looking towards Newhaven (where the goods line met the mainline from Leith North). On the west side of Leith Walk there was a goods yard so the railway formation becomes much wider behind the bridge. A series of former railway arches in various uses including a micro brewery can be seen to the right of the photo. Land at former track level has been redeveloped and a short way from here all trace of the railway has been built over up to the where it formally crossed the Water of Leith and the North British Railway on a viaduct. I saw the abutment of the north side of the viaduct on my visit to the NBR's lines around Leith. The road on this side of the arches, Jane Street, veers away from the course of the railway so it is hidden at the back of premises along the road.
Across the road on the east side of Leith Walk, Manderston Street follows the railway viaduct.
Below - A Bingo club built in to the railway arches.
Below - Several businesses, mostly garages, continue to operate in the railway arches.
Below - Another girder bridge has been removed where the line crossed Halmyre Street. Between here and Easter Road the site of the railway has been redeveloped but from Easter Road the trackbed is a footpath most of the way to South Leith Goods, this is one for another time though as on this occasion I went to the site of Leith North station along Great Junction Street.
LEITH NORTH
1933 Map (left side of map)
Leith North station opened in 1879, originally just referred to as Leith. It was renamed North Leith in 1903 after the NBR opened their Leith Central station, though hardly a move to avoid confusion as the NBR had a North Leith too. The station was renamed Leith North in 1952 around the time that Leith Central closed and (though it had been closed to passengers for five years) the other North Leith was renamed Leith Citadel. Leith North was the last surviving station in Leith, closing in 1962.
The station stood on the corner of Lindsey Road and what is now Ocean Drive, not far from the Ocean Terminal tram stop.
Below - Leith North station stood where the modern apartment block now stands towards the centre of the photo. In the foreground the line curving around the end of West Old Dock (a North British line) can be seen.
Below - On the corner of Ocean Drive and Melrose Drive an old building that was on the edge of the goods yard can be seen. This can be seen at the angle in the road on the old map. The building fronted on to the road here but the road has since moved to the right of the photo.
Melrose Drive follows the course of the Caledonian Railway lines in to the docks so Lindsay Road has been diverted to the north to remove the dog leg where it crossed the railway and build the junction of Melrose Drive and Lindsay Road. On the south side of the road before this junction the Hawthornevale Path meets the road and follows the course of the railway.
Below - Bridge taking the original course of Lindsey Road over the railway. The railway was six tracks under the bridge with the two on the left serving the passenger station and the four on the right heading in to the goods yards and docks.
Below - Bridge taking Newhaven Road over the railway.
NEWHAVEN
Below - The Edinburgh bound platform of Newhaven station on the left with the station building on the bridge ahead.
Below - The station building at Newhaven. Note the gates where there were once steps down to the platforms.
Either side of Newhaven station was the triangular junction with the freight line around Leith mentioned above. The side of the junction that allowed goods to move between North and South Leith was disconnected between the 1908 and 1914 maps and removed by the 1933 map and the Trinity Academy has been built over that side of the junction. The side of the junction to take freight towards Edinburgh by the Caledonian Railway system survives as the Victoria Path up to where the goods line crossed the NBR and Water of Leith.
Below - Bridge taking Craighall Road over the goods line around Leith, the railway cutting has been filled in.
Below - The former Newhaven station building on Craighall Road, now offices.
Below - The site of Trinity Junction. The Caledonian Railway crossed over the top of the North British lines between Scotland Street / Canal Street, Abbeyhill and Granton. Looking left to right the paths along the North British routes can be seen, now crossing the path along the Caledonian route at the same level. The path can be seen climbing back to the higher level of the Caledonian route after the junction.
Below - Looking south to the paths along the NBR routes to Abbeyhil on the left and Scotland Street / Canal Street on the right.
Below - Remnants of the Trinity Junction signal box.
Below - Looking North along the former North British line towards Granton. The tunnel under East Trinity Road can be seen.
Below - Back to the Caledonian Railway, the bridge under Clark Road.
1933 Map (top of map)
Below - Bridge under South Trinity Road.
Below - Bridge under Wardie Road.
GRANTON ROAD
Below - The path runs along the Edinburgh bound platform of Granton Road station.
Below - Looking back towards Leith. The Edinburgh bound platform can be seen on the right with the fence on the platform edge. The trackbed was quite muddy and it looks like the Leith bound platform is under the ivy on the left.
Below - Bridge taking Granton Road over the railway. On the old maps it looks as if Granton Road station had a building at street level similar to Newhaven. It I missed it on my picture but at either end of the bridge were filled in sections of the wall at street level where access to the station would have been.
Below - Bridge under Boswall Drive.
EAST PILTON HALT
Below - Bridge under Pilton Drive. East Pilton Halt is shown on Rail Map Online just beyond the bridge, this was presumably a short lived wooden platform and no trace of it could be seen. The halt is not shown on any of the old maps. This was also Pilton Junction East with routes to Edinburgh to the left and Granton to the right. The Pilton Fork that allowed traffic between Leith and Granton was removed between the 1914 and 1933 maps.
Below - The same bridge looking back towards Leith showing how the bridge has been widened.
Below - Information board alongside the path (click to enlarge)
Below - Bridge over Crewe Road North
Below - The site of Crewe Junction with the other side of the triangular junction from Granton coming in on the left. West Granton Access Road has been built along the former railway but a path has been provided alongside.
Below - Another Information board at the site of Crewe Junction (click to enlarge).
Below - A modern footbridge crosses Ferry Road on the abutments of the original railway bridges. There would have been two spans, one for the Granton line and one for the Leith line.
The path now becomes the Telford Path and the former railway formation is evidently wider where the yards around Crewe Junction where.
Below - Former Telford Drive footpath bridge over the railway.
Below - Bridge taking Telford Road over the railway.
Below - Queensferry Road bridge.
CRAIGLEITH
Below - The Edinburgh bound platform of Craigleith station on the left. The station was accessed from Queensferry Road above, the footbridge over the station site was a later addition.
Below - Both platforms of the former station survive.
Below - Map of the North Edinburgh Path Network, many of the key paths were old railways. This route runs from top right to bottom centre. My previous trip along the former NBR lines is the route towards the right edge of the map.
Below - Craiglieth station looking back towards Leith.
Below - From Craigleith the path becomes the Roseburn Path. There were signs about saving the path, looking at the website the threat is that it could become an extension to the tram system.
Below - Bridge taking Ravenstone Dykes over the railway.
Below - Bridge taking Chapelhill Road over the railway.
Below - Coltbridge Viaduct taking the railway over the Water of Leith.
MURRAYFIELD
Below - The former platforms of Murrayfield station.
Below - Space under the platform for point rodding from the signal box which stood behind the tracks in to the goods yard on the other side of the platform.
Below - Bridge over Roseburn Terrace.
After crossing Roseburn Terrace the path descends to street level at Russel Road and Balbirnie Place just before the site of the demolished bridge that took the line over the North British lines in to Haymarket station from the west. The course of the Caledonian railway in to the former Edinburgh Princes Street has been redeveloped so it was a walk along roads to the Caledonian Railway's former Edinburgh terminus.
The abutments of the bridge that took the line over the Caledonian Railway's Haymarket Branch survive but are in the middle of a fenced off site where a small woodland is being crated in the triangle of land between former and current railways. The Haymarket Branch was a goods connection to the North British network. After the railways were nationalised BR decided to concentrate services on Edinburgh Waverley station and close Princes Street, the junction with the CR and NBR was rebuilt to allow passenger services from former Caledonian Railway routes in to Haymarket and Waverley stations.
DALRY ROAD
West Approach Road has been built on the former railway line in to Princes Street. The former railway bridge over Dalry Road has been reused by the road but the trackbed wasn't wide enough for a pavement as well so a new footpath bridge has been built alongside. Apart from a short stretch where it does a dogleg around the site of Dalry Road station and the engine sheds to the south of the station, West Approach Road occupies the former trackbed all the way to Princess Street. The site of Dalry Road station is now occupied by Dalry Community Park and nothing remains of the railway.
EDINBURGH PRINCES STREEET
Edinburgh Princes Street station's origins go back to the first Caldeonian Railway terminus nearby which was named Lothian Road and opened in 1848. This was not the grand terminus that had been planned due to a shortage of funds. With increased traffic and revenue coming in the first Princes Street station was built alongside Lothian Road station to the north and opened in 1870. The site of Lothian Road station became a goods shed and is now occupied by the Sheraton Grand Hotel. The 1870 station still wasn't a grand terminus but a wooden building which burned down in 1890 and a grand station befitting of the railway's Edinburgh terminus was finally built between 1890 and 1893. In 1899 a hotel was built above the station buildings. This station closed in 1965 but the hotel survives, now as The Caldeonian, it has taken over the former station buildings at ground level and built an extension where the booking office and entrance to the platforms once was.
Below - The facade of Princes Street station on the corner of Princes Street and Lothian Road. The ground floor level was the 1890 - 1893 built station with the floors above being the 1899 hotel.
Below - Looking down the Rutland Street side of the station building.
Below - The former entrance to the cab road on the right. The hotel extension over the former entrance to the platforms can be seen at the back of the building. The platforms originally had a glass roof.
From the former Princes Street station it was a short walk to Haymarket (part of the reason BR chose to concentrate services on the former North British stations in Edinburgh) so I headed there for my train journey home.
No comments:
Post a Comment