Belses

Location type

Station

Names and dates

New Belses (1849-1862)
Belses (1862-1969)

Opened on the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway (North British Railway).

Description

This was a two platform station.

The main station building is of two floors and did not directly adjoin the platform. There were two timber waiting rooms, with parcels section, one on either platform.

There was a goods yard at the south end, on the east side, accessed from the southbound line, with a large loading bank. Early maps show two sheds in this goods yard, one alongside the loading bank and another at the end of the siding. These have disappeared in later maps.

The signal box, at the south end on the west side of the line, and goods closed in 1966.

All the buildings, from the time of closure, and the loading bank still exist. The space between the platforms has been infilled. The main station building is now a private house and the station its garden. Station staff cottages also exist nearby, also in use as a private house.

The bridge over the B6400, to the north of the station, has been removed as has the bridge over an unclassified road to the south.

Although the population at Belses was low, the station served Ancrum to the east and Lilliesheaf to the west.

This is probably the most intact former station of the Waverley Route.

Tags

Station

External links

Canmore site record
NLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67
NLS Map
NLS Map




Books


A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Scotland - The Lowlands and the Borders v. 6 (Regional railway history series)

Forgotten Railways: Scotland

Galashiels 1897: Selkirkshire Sheet 08.02 (Old Ordnance Survey Maps of Selkirkshire)

Galashiels to Edinburgh: Including the Lauder and Dalkeith Branches - the Waverley Route (Scml)

Hawick 1897: Roxburghshire Sheet 25.07 (Old Ordnance Survey Maps of Roxburghshire)

Hawick to Galashiels: The Waverley Route Including the Selkirk Branch (Scottish Main Lines)

Last Years of the Waverley Route

North British Railway, Vol. 1 (Standard Railway History)

North British Railway, Vol. 2 (Standard Railway History)

On the Waverley Route

Railways Of Scotland 2: The Waverley Route DVD - Cinerail

The Waverley Route Through Time

The Waverley Route: Its Heritage and Revival

The Waverley Route: The Postwar Years

Waverley Route: The battle for the Borders Railway

Waverley Route: The Life, Death and Rebirth of the Borders Railway

Waverley: Portrait of a Famous Route