Location type

Mine

Name and dates

Lady Victoria Pit (1895-1981)

Served by the Lothian Coal Co Ltd.
Served by the Lady Victoria Colliery (Newbattle Collieries).
Served by the Newbattle Collieries Railway.
Served by the Easthouses Tramway (Lothian Coal Co Ltd).

Description

After the creation of the Lothian Coal Co Ltd this colliery was developed to be the main site in the Newbattle Collieries. Also known as The Lady or the Lady Vic.

During construction a temporary was laid from the existing railway west to the site of the Lady Victoria Pit. This crossed the A9 on the level to enter the site and during construction there was no connection to the nearby main line. The permanent way was laid further north.

The mine opened in 1895. Underground it was linked to the Lingerwood Mine. It was not only a mine but also the chief coal preparation plant and had a direct connection for the private railway system to the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway (North British Railway) (the ^Waverley Route^) at the Lady Victoria Pit Signal Box. The main line was to the west of the mine. (This connection replaced the system^s older connection at West Bryans Siding.)

The connection to the main line originally allowed entry from, and exit to, the south with the line climbing to the south.

The standard gauge sidings left at Lady Victoria Pit Signal Box and ran north to serve the colliery screens. One line sidestepped the screens to their west and from north of the north end of the colliery screen sidings turned east to north of Lingerwood Mine (a location which could be referred to as Lingerwood Junction [1st]. From here Lingerwood Mine could be reached by reversal or the line followed north to Easthouses Pit and ultimately Shaw's Coal Depot. The portion of line from the Lady Victoria to Lingerwood was newer than the alignment between Lingerwood, Easthouses and Shaw^s Depot.

To the south of the Lady Victoria was a yard of holding sidings, only accessible from the private system. The Newbattle Collieries^ workshops were located east of the Lady Victoria, a range of railway served (from the holding sidings) buildings running north-south alongside the main road.

One of the more obscure parts of the Lothian Lines (North British Railway) was a set of reversing spurs south of the Lady Victoria Pit Signal Box alongside the main line. This allowed trains to enter from and exit to the north via the reversing spurs.

The layout became more complicated in 1909 with the opening of the Easthouses Extension Pit. This was served by the Easthouses Tramway (Lothian Coal Co Ltd), a cable operated line which ran from the new pit south to Lingerwood Mine and the Lady Victoria Pit. The new alignment was directly east of the older Easthouses to Lingerwood standard gauge line. Between Lingerwood and the Lady Victoria the alignment ran west immediately south of the standard gauge line before turning hard south to enter the Lady Victoria^s coal preparation plant.

The National Coal Board rebuilt the cable tramway in 1949. A secondary set of sidings were built to the south, their approach passing under a second Brewer^s Bush Bridge, directly east of the original main line bridge. These sidings were directly east of the reversing spurs and main line. Road vehicles could be loaded here from hoppers.

In 1955 the cable tramway was converted for locomotive operation. For this the lines between the Lady Victoria and Lingerwood were reversed, the standard gauge now occupying the route of the tramway and vice versa. A new coal receiving area was built at the end of the tramway north of the Lady Victoria. A new locomotive shed was added to the private lines, close to the Lady Victoria Pit Signal Box.

The mine closed in 1981 and is now the National Mining Museum Scotland.

Tags

Mine colliery pit

Aliases

Lady Victoria Colliery

External links

NLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67
NLS Map
NLS Map
NLS Map
NLS Map
07/03/2021

Nearby stations Newtongrange Newtongrange [1st] Dalhousie South Esk Eskbank Bonnyrigg Gorebridge Eskbank and Dalkeith Broomieknowe Glenesk Dalkeith Lasswade Fushiebridge [2nd] Fushiebridge [1st] Sheriffhall [2nd]	Newbattle Coal Stocking Site Lingerwood Weighbridge Dean Oil Works Newbattle Brick Works Newtongrange [Village] Lady Victoria Pit Locomotive Shed Lingerwood Junction [1st] Lady Victoria Pit Signal Box Lingerwood Mine Lingerwood Junction [2nd] Newbattle Signal Box Newbattle Gas Works Newbattle Brick and Tile Works Tourist/other Lingerwood Road Level Crossing Newton Grange Level Crossing
Location names in dark blue are on the same original line.