In Colour
The grandiose North British Hotel which opened on 16 October 1902 looms above the
trainshed at the east end of Edinburgh (Waverley) station as Gresley ‘A3’ Pacific
No 60068 Sir Visto awaits departure with a Waverley line train in April 1960. The Carlisle (Canal)-allocated
engine is likely to be in charge of ‘The Waverley’ titled train, due away at 10.05am
to London (St Pancras) via Hawick, Carlisle and the Settle & Carlisle line. The double
chimney was fitted in a Doncaster Works visit in February 1959 but the engine would
not get smoke deflectors before withdrawal came on 27 August 1962. J G Wallace/Colour-Rail.com/318075
The 1950s and 1960s photography of J G Wallace is at the heart of this trip of around
36 miles east from the Scottish capital, its Waverley station offering a through East
Coast route but very often it was a starting or terminating point for even the best
services, and as such acted as a hub for main lines such as the Waverley route as
well some branch services. A resident of Longniddry near to the East Coast main line,
J G Wallace was on the doorstep to capture what seems to be the seldom photographed
section of the route between Edinburgh and Cockburnspath on the edge of East Lothian.
A very clean Thompson ‘A2’ class Pacific, No 60510 Robert the Bruce, is ready to leave from the west end of Edinburgh (Waverley) with a train to Dundee
in April 1960. The working is likely to be the 10.10am to Dundee Tay Bridge. The locomotive
was allocated to Haymarket shed, which provided engines and servicing for most East
Coast main line services at the time and was located around two miles west of the
station. Modernisation of the facilities at Haymarket to accommodate diesel traction
saw a reduction in steam activity and this engine was transferred to the more freight-orientated
St Margarets shed (east of Waverley station) in July, although that moved proved to
be short-lived as withdrawal came in November 1960.
J G Wallace/Colour-Rail.com/SC246
The facilities at St Margarets shed in the eastern suburbs of Edinburgh were on both
sides of the East Coast main line but were not one homogenous operation until the
Grouping in 1923. On the north side was the original North British Railway locomotive
works and roundhouse built in the 1840s, which expanded to the south side when a six-road
shed was built in the 1860s, followed by another shed adjacent and opened by the North
Eastern Railway in 1871 after an 1869 dated agreement to allow that company running
rights to the city. Apart from
