Portions of this line remain open between Duddingston and Millerhill and between Leith and Portobello. The line was known as the 'Innocent Railway'. It was built to convey domestic coal into Edinburgh. The Borders Railway has re-opened a further portion between Sherriffhall and Dalhousie.
The portion of the line still in use is supported and promoted by the Borders Railway Community Rail Partnership .
This line was built to convey coal from pits and existing waggonways around Dalkeith to Edinburgh. In addition there were branches to the port of Leith and harbour at Fisherrow. The four routes met at Niddrie. The Fisherrow branch opened with the main line and was probably for importing fish and exporting excess coal production. Leith is much lower than Edinburgh and this provided a more gentle approach to the sea. Fisherrow was no doubt inadequate and exporting coal required train reversals and before long the Leith branch was conceived.
Until 2002 the remaining portion of the line was used by freight only to access Millerhill Marshalling Yard. From 2002 the portion between Niddrie South Junction and a new station and turnback siding at Newcraighall carried a passenger service from Edinburgh Waverley via Portobello and Brunstane. From 2015 the new Borders Railway (reopened northern part of Waverley Route) will carry passenger trains at Newcraighall and between Sherrifhall and Dalhousie with trains continuing to Tweedbank. A new Millerhill Deviation runs between Newcraighall and Sherrifhall as the route via the Millerhill Marshalling Yard will not be reinstated.
The branch to Leith is open to freight, used until 2013 for conveying imported coal from the docks for use at Cockenzie Power Station.
26/05/1826 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Act receives Royal assent |
/ /1831 | Edmonstone Waggonway Partly closed, part linked to [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] |
04/07/1831 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Opened from St Leonards to Craighall. |
/10/1831 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Opened throughout. |
/10/1831 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Fisherrow branch opened. |
21/01/1832 | [Marquis of Lothians Waggonway] [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] line extended from Dalhousie. Initially the line ran eastwards after crossing the South Esk to Bryans Pit. A branch to the south to Lingerwood Mine was later opened and the system was to eventually reach as far south as Arniston Engine. In later years a colliery line was to be established between the Newbattle pits which was independent of the Waverley route. |
02/06/1832 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Passenger shuttle service started from St Leonards to Dalhousie by other company along the railway. |
/ /1834 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Edinburgh and Dalkeith set up own passenger service. |
/ /1836 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Edinburgh and Dalkeith take over all other passenger services. |
/ /1838 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Leith branch opened. |
/ /1839 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Dalkeith branch opened (connected to Duke of Buccleuchs collieries at Smeaton and Cowden). |
21/07/1845 | Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway North British Railway Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway merged with the North British Railway. |
/ /1846 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Route re-gauged to standard gauge. |
/ /1846 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Fisherrow branch modified to branch off North British Railway. |
/ /1846 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Original Fisherrow branch from Niddrie connected to North British Railway to form Niddrie to Monktonhall link. |
/ /1847 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] St Leonards closed. |
/ /1847 | [Musselburgh Branch] ([North British Railway]) [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] [Musselburgh Branch] opened and Fisherrow closed to passengers. |
/07/1847 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Dalhousie renamed South Esk. |
14/07/1847 | Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway New line from Portobello (Hawick Junction) to Niddrie South Junction opened, Niddrie to South Esk re-gauged. The Arniston Branch was replaced by a new alignment further west. |
/ /1849 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Original route between Portobello and Niddrie closed. |
20/02/1849 | Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Millerhill station opened. |
04/07/1855 | Peebles Railway Opened from Hardengreen Junction (Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway) to Peebles [1st]. Stations opened at; Hawthornden, Roslin [1st], Penicuik [1st], Leadburn, Eddleston and Peebles [1st]. |
/ /1856 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Doubling of South Leith branch begins. |
/ /1858 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Completion of doubling of South Leith branch. |
01/06/1860 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] St Leonards re-opened to passengers. |
30/09/1860 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] St Leonards re-closed to passengers. |
01/02/1869 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Second station at Niddrie closed. |
31/07/1870 | [Macmerry Branch] ([North British Railway]) Connection from Hardengreen Junction ([Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway]) to Smeaton ([Macmerry Branch]) opened. |
09/05/1872 | Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Hardengreen Junction to Hawthornden Junction (on the Peebles Railway) doubled. |
06/11/1873 | Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Edinburgh Loanhead and Roslin Railway opened from Millerhill Junction. |
02/01/1905 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] South Leith closed to passengers. |
01/08/1908 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] South Esk station closed. |
01/05/1933 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] [Edinburgh Loanhead and Roslin Railway] closed to passengers. |
/ /1934 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Hardengreen Junction to Smeaton lifted, except for a short stub at Hardengreen. |
05/01/1942 | Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Dalkeith to Millerhill (Glenesk Junction) closed to passengers. |
/ /1954 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Eskbank renamed Eskbank and Dalkeith. |
07/11/1955 | Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Millerhill station closed. |
02/10/1961 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Fisherrow closed to freight. |
18/06/1962 | Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Millerhill Marshalling Yard and Associated Lines opened. |
10/09/1962 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Portobello (Niddrie North Junction) to Morningside Road to Edinburgh (Haymarket Central Junction) closed to passengers |
10/09/1962 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] [Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway] Niddrie North Junction to Haymarket Central Junction via Duddingston Junction closed to passengers. Remains open for freight and diverted passenger trains. |
10/08/1964 | Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Dalkeith to Millerhill (Glenesk Junction) closed to freight |
07/09/1964 | [Musselburgh Branch] ([North British Railway]) [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Musselburgh to Joppa (Newhailes Junction) closed to passengers |
22/07/1968 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] St Leonards closed to freight. |
/08/1968 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] St Leonards to Duddingston closed. |
06/01/1969 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway][Marquis of Lothians Waggonway][Edinburgh and Hawick Railway (North British Railway)][Border Union Railway][Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway and Dock Company] Edinburgh (Portobello East Junction) to Hawick to Carlisle (Port Carlisle Junction) closed to passengers. Newtongrange, Gorebridge, Tynehead, Heriot, Fountainhall, Stow, Galashiels [1st], Melrose, St Boswells, Hassendean, Hawick [2nd], Stobs, Shankend, Riccarton Junction, Steele Road, Newcastleton stations closed. |
28/06/1972 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Line closed between Gorebridge (Lady Victoria Pit), (NCB Butlerfield the washery associated with the pit), and Millerhill Junction (excluded). The Carlisle Arrival Sidings at Millerhill and a short section south remained, used by trains rounding the Monktonhall Curve to access Millerhill Down Yard. |
06/09/1972 | [Musselburgh Branch] ([North British Railway]) [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Musselburgh to Joppa (Newhailes Junction) closed to freight. (Alternative dates: 1971, 7/12/1970). |
/ /1980 | Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Millerhill Marshalling Yard and Associated Lines Down Yard lifted. |
26/02/1982 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Baileyfield switch and crossing depot opened |
/ /1990 | Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Depot to south of Millerhill Junction falls out of use. Track is now buckled and useless. |
/ /1993 | Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Stub of Edinburgh Loanhead and Roslin Railway from Millerhill Junction to Bilston Glen Colliery closed. |
/ /1997 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Millerhill Junction to Monktonhall Colliery closed. |
04/12/2001 | [Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway] Tree-planting ceremony marks the site-start at Newcraighall. Construction of Newcraighall and Brunstane stations on the Edinburgh CrossRail scheme commences. |
03/06/2002 | Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Portobello Junction to Newcraighall (north of Millerhill) re-opened to passengers with stations at; Brunstane, Newcraighall. |
The main line, a double track, ran from Edinburgh St Leonards through a tunnel and along an incline and then east to Niddrie and then south through Eskbank (near Dalkeith) to South Esk. There were branches to Leith and Fisherrow from Niddrie. Stations were located at the termini and at Niddrie. Locations where passengers could be picked up or dropped were located elsewhere.
This line is divided into a number of portions.
Double track throughout.
A notable early passenger, goods and minerals terminus in Edinburgh - Edinburgh's first station and was located to the south east of the Old Town. The station was probably not called St Leonards in the early days, it would be the Edinburgh terminus of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway. At first trains were horse drawn. The primary purpose was to bring coal to Edinburgh from pits to the south ...
More detailsThis level crossing was named for a farm formerly to the south of the level crossing.
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This junction was directly east of Duddingston station. It was formed in 1884 between the 1831 Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway and the Edinburgh, Suburban and Southside Junction Railway.
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This is a location identified as a possible location for the E&DR's Niddrie station. It is unlikely as this was not at the point of divergence of the South Esk and Fisherrow lines, not shown on the NBR prospectus map and west of the point of divergence of the Leith line, opened one year after the station (thus not served by the Leith branch which would have been wasteful).
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This location has been identified as a possible location of the E&DR's Niddrie station. It was immediately east of the point of divergence between the lines to St Leonards and Leith.
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This junction is between the single track line from Portobello East Junction and the double track from Niddrie South Junction. The line runs west to Craiglockhart Junction round the Edinburgh Suburban line (the former Edinburgh, Suburban and Southside Junction Railway).
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This junction is in the south east of Edinburgh. It controls the junction between the Edinburgh Waverley to Tweedbank line and the goods only line from Slateford and Haymarket. It is a busy location with freight, passenger trains and depot traffic, made difficult by the single track line north to Portobello.
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This was the third station at Niddrie immediately south of Niddrie South Junction, on approximately the same site as Newcraighall station.
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This is a single platform station located between Niddrie South Junction and Newcraighall North Junction where the Millerhill Deviation (Network Rail) leaves the alignment of the original Waverley Route.
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This is where the Borders Railway joins the alignment of the former Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway, today the lines serving Millerhill EGIP Depot and the goods loop serving the remains of Millerhill Marshalling Yard off the East Coast Main Line.
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This new EMU Depot for EGIP was built on the site of the Millerhill Up Sorting Sidings. ...
More detailsThis is the junction between the Newcraighall North Junction to Monktonhall Junction route through the former Millerhill Yard and the Millerhill EGIP Depot, built partly on the site of the Millerhill MPD and the Millerhill Yard Up Sorting Sidings.
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Probably spelt Cairnie as per the nearby farm and cottages. This station was probably located either at Cairnie Cottage or near Adamsrow, a location now lost after the development of the Millerhill Marshalling Yard.
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The exact location of this short lived station is uncertain, being more a stopping place than a station. It was located on the original alignment of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway probably to the north of the A6106 overbridge.
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This viaduct is also known as the North Esk Viaduct. It is a single arch crossing the River North Esk at a high of 60 ft. The bridge dates from 1831 and currently carries a railway, formerly the Waverley Route which closed in 1969 as a through route and re-opened as the Borders Railway in 2015.
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This was the junction between the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway's line from Edinburgh to South Esk and its short branch to Dalkeith. The junction was immediately to the south of Glenesk Viaduct and north of the short lived Glenesk station. The E&D later became the northern portion of the Waverley Route.
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This short lived station was north of Eskbank and Dalkeith station and south of Glenesk Junction and the Glenesk Viaduct. The Glenesk Colliery was alongside the railway to the west. ...
More detailsThis was a two platform station. The street level building is a two storey sandstone building with Tudor styling.
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This was the junction between the re-gauged Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway and the Peebles Railway. Hardengreen Yard was developed here and the Dalkeith Branch (North British Railway) later also reached this location.
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This yard was developed at Hardengreen Junction. The yard consisted of a number of sidings on either side of the Waverley Route, just south of Hardengreen Junction and a number of sidings on the east side, approached from the south.
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This is a single platform station.
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This was the southern terminus of the main line of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway. It was specifically built to be close to the coalfield north of Gorebridge to bring coal to Edinburgh. An older spelling is 'South Eske'.
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Single track.
This was the first station at Niddrie, opened by the E&DR at the point of divergence of the lines to Fisherrow and South Esk one year before the opening of the South Leith branch. This location is marked on OS maps as having a 'Branch House' immediately to the south of the running lines. The station is likely to have been an interchange pausing point and probably did not serve the ...
More detailsThis was the junction between the 1831 Fisherrow branch of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway and the 1847 Musselburgh Branch (North British Railway).
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Fisherrow is a small tidal harbour on the west bank of the River Esk. The present stone harbour dates from the 17th century with modifications for waggonways. The town itself sits between the harbour and the river, on the east bank of which is Musselburgh. As the name suggest, fishing fleets were based here.
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Single track. A later addition.
This location has been identified as a possible location of the E&DR's Niddrie station. It was immediately east of the point of divergence between the lines to St Leonards and Leith.
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This box was on the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway's South Leith branch. It opened with the development of the [[Lothian Lines (North British Railway).
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In 1916 the Lothian Lines (North British Railway) opened here.
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This box was located on the west side of Seafield Road Level Crossing (then called Seafield Crossing), on the north side of the line and backing onto the beach.
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Seafield Junction was at the Marine Esplanade Level Crossing (now called Seafield Level Crossing).
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This goods depot was opened immediately to the east of South Leith station. It allowed the goods station at the station to become a coal depot. It opened around 1881, along with the Leith Edinburgh Dock.
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This was a terminus of a branch from Niddrie [1st] opened on the shoreline at Leith, just east of the Water of Leith in 1835 (the land on the east bank is South Leith). Passenger coaches ran here from 1838. This largely forgotten station is important in the history of the expansion and development of Leith and its docks. Known as simply 'Leith' until 1868 when it first appeared as 'South' in ...
More detailsThis was the junction between the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway's line from Edinburgh to South Esk and its short branch to Dalkeith. The junction was immediately to the south of Glenesk Viaduct and north of the short lived Glenesk station. The E&D later became the northern portion of the Waverley Route.
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This was a single platform terminus at the end of a short branch from Glenesk Junction. There was a goods yard to the north of the station site.
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