Powderhall

Location type

Station

Name and dates

Powderhall (1895-1916)

Opened on the Easter Road Deviation (North British Railway).

Description

This was a two platform suburban station with a ticket office on the road bridge to the south (Broughton Road) and waiting rooms on each platform. There was no goods yard.

To the north the line crossed the Water of Leith to reach Bonnington South Junction and to the south it reached Leith Walk station, the line serving several works in between; the Rosebank Iron Works, Shrubhill Tram Depot and others. Rosebank Cemetery is not far east.

After closure the platforms remained intact, the buildings were demolished, although the sandstone frontage of the street level building survives.

The line to North Leith was singled (southbound line lifted) and that to Granton afterwards (northbound line lifted). North Leith closed completely in 1968 and Granton was officially closed in 1986, however the line was retained as far as the former Bonnington South Junction.

The reason for this retention was the Powderhall Destructor directly to the west of the former station. The wall between the two was removed, platforms also removed and a loop installed to the south (Powderhall Loop). Compacted refuse from Edinburgh was transported from the site by rail.

This traffic has ceased. The line remains in place but sees no use.

The trackbed between Powderhall and the former Lochend Junction may be incorporated into Edinburgh's cycle network. The former Abbeyhill Junction to Powderhall Branch Junction may be re-opened to increase line capacity.

Imaginative use of the trackbed could be made to introduce a northern suburban circle were other closed lines to be re-opened. This would run on a 'reserved' route unlike the proposed street based Leith extension of the Edinburgh Trams.

Tags

Station

External links

NLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67
NLS Map
NLS Map
NLS Map
NLS Map
01/08/2018




Nearby stations
Pilrig Street
Bonnington
Ferry Road
Leith Walk
Balfour Street [Tram]
Scotland Street
McDonald Road [Tram]
Leith Walk [CR]
Newhaven [Leith New Lines]
Junction Bridge
Newhaven
Foot of the Walk [Tram]
Leith Central
Picardy Place [Tram]
York Place [Tram]
Powderhall Destructor
Powderhall Bridge
Rosebank Iron Works
Bonnington South Junction
Bonnington South Viaduct
Bonnington (Rosebank) Goods
Powderhall Loop
Bonnington Tannery
Bonnington North Viaduct
Weldun Boiler Works
Bonnington East Junction
Bonnington Steel Works
Bonnington Bridge Paper Works
Tourist/other
Rosebank Cemetery
Bonnington Level Crossing
Location names in dark blue are on the same original line.


Chronology Dates

22/04/1895Easter Road Deviation (North British Railway)
Powderhall passenger station opened.
01/01/1917Easter Road Deviation (North British Railway)
Powderhall, Leith Walk closed (Wartime measures in the Great War).
  /  /1980Granton Branch (Caledonian Railway)
Granton Shell Siding closed. (Latterly accessed via the Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway which is cut back to Powderhall). Line remains open for irregular Naphtha traffic to Granton Gas Works.
  /  /1987Edinburgh, Leith and Granton Railway
Line lifted from Powderhall (excluded) to Granton Harbour.
  /  /1989Edinburgh, Leith and Granton Railway
Track singled from Piershill Junction to Powderhall, and the Abbeyhill route is disconnected at Lochend South Junction.
  /  /1989Easter Road Deviation (North British Railway)
The City of Edinburgh buys 13 bogie wagons for the rubbish carrying service from Powderhall to Kaimes Quarry, the 'binliner'. Powderhall to Piershill Junction re-opened to freight for refuse trains traffic.
29/08/1997Easter Road Deviation (North British Railway)
With Kaimes Quarry full the rubbish carrying service from Powderhall was changed to Oxwellmains Quarry, the landfill site operated by Viridor Waste Management.
  /02/2017Easter Road Deviation (North British Railway)
Final 'binliner' train runs from Powderhall station.

News items

03/07/2021Powderhall green corridor at 'early stages' [The Edinburgh Reporter]
09/06/2021New walking and cycling route delayed because council too busy on Spaces for People [Edinburgh News]
06/10/2008Powderhall replacement thrown out [Modern Railways]
08/10/2007Waste depot sparks fears over traffic impact
03/06/2007Destructor to be replaced [Evening News]