The Balerno line was a short loop railway in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. It was some 6 miles in length leaving the main Caledonian

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

to Carstairs line at Slateford in

. It was built by the

Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...

(CR) mainly to service the many enterprises situated along the upper

Water of Leith The Water of Leith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Uisge Lìte'') is the main river flowing near central Edinburgh, Scotland, and flows into the port of Leith where it flows into the sea via the Firth of Forth. Name The name ''Leith'' may be of Britt ...

. However, passenger trains also ran. Most trains terminated at Balerno, though they had to travel to Ravelrig to turn round. Other stations were constructed at Colinton, Juniper Green and Currie. In 1923, with the grouping, the CR amalgamated with several other companies to form the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

(LMS) which, following nationalisation in 1947, became part of British Railways.

Construction

Several local landowners objected to the building of the railway fearing they would lose some of their land. Others were in favour as they believed it would make the transportation of animals and goods easier. The mill owners were strongly in favour. The Balerno line received final

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

in 1870 and opened in 1874. There were many problems in construction requiring 28 bridges, one long tunnel and many cuttings and embankments. The line followed the Water of Leith, crossing it several times. It was built entirely with manual labour at a final cost of a little over £134,000. It was a single track railway with the only passing place at Currie station. Initially a speed limit of 15 m.p.h. was imposed, this being later raised to 20 m.p.h. A maximum of 18 trucks were allowed.

Running

Four

bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of tr ...

engines were built for the opening which could cope with the steep gradients and curves. This type of engine was normally used in factories and other confined spaces. Special four wheeled, two wheelset, carriages were also built. In 1899 12

locomotives A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; th ...

were specially built for the line. These became known as ''Balerno Pugs''. From 1934 standard

tank engines A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locomot ...

were gradually brought into service replacing the pug engines. Engine number CR419 was one of those used and is now in the possession of The Scottish Railway Preservation Society having been restored by them in 1971 and again in 2009. Railway enthusiasts were enthralled to see these little trains weaving along in such delightful rural surroundings yet so close to the heart of Edinburgh.

Using

This rural railway, within a few minutes from the centre of Edinburgh, was very popular with

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as precedi ...

kers especially on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The line played a key role in attracting people to the area. It gave easy access to the countryside and encouraged city dwellers to come and live there and commute to work. Colinton and Juniper Green expanded rapidly in the late 19th century due, in a large part, to the railway. Expansion in Currie and Balerno was not so great as they were further away. Up to 1920s the train had a monopoly of passenger traffic in the area. After that date buses carried more and more people and passenger trains ceased in 1943 though one or two special excursions were made, the last one being in 1965. The 24 mills along the line made good use of it. They were engaged in the manufacture of

textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not th ...

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre e ...

, and snuff. There were five or six snuff mills in the area, possibly the greatest concentration of snuff mills in the world. One of these was owned by Edinburgh tobacconist James Gillespie, who went on to found what is now James Gillespie's High School.There were also two

stone quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...

, a

salt works A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The Salt pans are shallow and large of size because it will be easier for sunlight to travel and reach the sea water. Natural sa ...

and a

tannery Tanning may refer to: * Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather * Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin ** Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun ** Sunless tanning, application of a stain or d ...

. Freight trains continued till 1967 when the line was closed following the closure of the Kinleith paper mill.

Current use

The rails were lifted in 1968 and the stations and other infrastructure demolished. The track was converted into the

Water of Leith Walkway {{coord, 55, 53, 9.73, N, 3, 20, 23.31, W, display=title The Water of Leith Walkway is a public footpath and cycleway that runs alongside the small river of the same name through Edinburgh, Scotland, from Balerno to Leith. The concept of a p ...

. This is now well used by the public for walking, exercising dogs, cycling and horse riding. It is now possible to walk or cycle all the way from Balerno to

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

using footpaths. Balerno Community High School was built on the ground of the former Balerno station goods yard. Balerno

References

Sources

Shaw, Donald (1989). ''The Balerno Branch and the Caley in Edinburgh''. Oakwood.

External links

RAILSCOT on Balerno Railway
{{coord, 55.88958, -3.33769, type:landmark_region:GB_source:enwiki-npemap.org.uk, display=title Caledonian Railway Closed railway lines in Scotland Standard gauge railways in Scotland Railway lines opened in 1874