Whitrope Siding was a trailing short siding or spur off the "up" (southbound) line, an associated trailing cross-over between up and down lines, a pair of railway cottages and a signal box on the Waverley Line or Waverley Route. It was used as a goods loading bay. The site is now the home of the Whitrope Heritage Centre, as well as the current terminus of the heritage Border Union Railway.
The siding is located just south of the highest point on the line, the famous Whitrope Summit, 1006 ft above sea level. It is approximately 300 metres south from Whitrope Tunnel, and 4 km north from Hermitage, Scottish Borders.
Waverley Route Heritage Association maintains a small museum of old Waverley Route related artefacts and photographs within a static carriage (Mk2 BSO 9400) together with an adjoining buffet carriage (69316 from a 4BIG EMU).
As of 2019, there is now a platform on the "down" side with over 800 m (870 yd) of track laid from the tunnel over the summit southward to Bridge 200. There is a plan to rebuild a replica of the old Whitrope Signal Box, as well as to extend the running line southwards to the former site of Riccarton Junction. In 2005 a survey was carried out on Whitrope Tunnel to determine if a northern extension through it towards Shankend would be possible.
As well as the two static carriages mentioned above, there are also two locomotives on site; the WRHA's own shunter 0-6-0 DM JF 4240015 of 1962 which arrived on 9 December 2009, and 4w DM Ruston - a 48DS on loan from Rocks by Rail and arrived on 14 June 2011.
On 16 April 2012 another item of rolling stock arrived; Mk2f RFO 1215 on loan from Northumbria Rail Ltd. It was planned that this would be joined by Mk2f BSO 9538 (also from Northumbria Rail) and these carriage were intended to form a short rake for passenger trains later in the year. [1]
On 31 May 2012 BRE / Leyland railbus RB004 on loan from Northumbria Rail Ltd, was unloaded at the site having been moved up by road from the Midland Railway: Butterley in Derbyshire by Reid Freight the day before. [2] Early in 2020 it was announced that this was shortly expected to be joined by two production British Rail Class 142 Pacer units, 142019 and 142020, latterly in service with Northern. [3]
Preceding station | Proposed Heritage railways | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Terminus | Border Union Railway | Riccarton Junction |
The Rimutaka Incline was a 3-mile-long (4.8 km), 3 ft 6 in gauge railway line on an average grade of 1-in-15 using the Fell system between Summit and Cross Creek stations on the Wairarapa side of the original Wairarapa Line in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand. The term "Rimutaka Incline" is sometimes used incorrectly to refer to other parts or all of the closed and deviated section of the Wairarapa Line between Upper Hutt and Speedy's Crossing, near Featherston. The incline formation is now part of the Remutaka Rail Trail.
The Dartmouth Steam Railway, formerly known as the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, is a 6.7-mile (10.8 km) heritage railway on the former Great Western Railway branch line between Paignton and Kingswear in Devon, England. Much of the railway's business is from summer tourists from the resorts of Torbay, who travel to Kingswear, where the Dartmouth Passenger Ferry takes them across the River Dart to Dartmouth.
The Midland Railway – Butterley is a heritage railway and museum complex at Butterley, near Ripley in Derbyshire.
The Riviera Line is the railway between the city of Exeter, towns Dawlish and Teignmouth, and the English Riviera resorts of Torbay in Devon, England. Its tracks are shared with the Exeter to Plymouth Line along the South Devon sea wall. It is part of the Network Rail Route 12.
The Waverley Route was a railway line that ran south from Edinburgh, through Midlothian and the Scottish Borders, to Carlisle. The line was built by the North British Railway; the stretch from Edinburgh to Hawick opened in 1849 and the remainder to Carlisle opened in 1862. The line was nicknamed after the immensely popular Waverley Novels, written by Sir Walter Scott.
The Whitrope Tunnel is a disused railway tunnel in the Scottish Borders, situated 12 miles (19 km) south of Hawick on the Waverley Route, close to Whitrope. It has a length of 1,208 yards (1,105 m).
Whitrope is a densely forested, but sparsely populated area, high in the Southern Upland hills in the south central Scottish Borders in the former county of Roxburghshire. Situated some 12 miles south from Hawick on the B6399 road, the Scottish watershed passes through the area; Whitrope Burn draining south towards Newcastleton and Flosh Burn draining north towards Hawick.
Paignton railway station serves the town and seaside resort of Paignton in Devon, England. It is 222 miles 12 chains (358 km) from London Paddington, via Box. It opened in 1859 and is now the terminus of Riviera Line services from Exeter and heritage services on the Dartmouth Steam Railway from Kingswear.
The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for 172 kilometres (107 mi), connects the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line at Woodville, via Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Masterton.
Waverley Route Heritage Association is a heritage railway group involved with the history, heritage and preservation of the Waverley Route, based/centred on Whitrope, south of Hawick, Scotland.
Belses is a village on the Ale Water, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland the former Selkirkshire. It is situated close to Old Belses, and lies south of St Boswells, west of Jedburgh, north of Hawick, and east of Selkirk.
Summit railway station was at the summit of the Wairarapa Line over the Rimutaka Ranges in the Wellington region of New Zealand’s North Island and was where trains were marshalled for a descent down the Rimutaka Incline or for Fell locomotives to be extricated from a train that had ascended the Incline. The station was between Kaitoke and Cross Creek stations on the Wairarapa Line. The station was bypassed when the Rimutaka Tunnel was opened.
Cross Creek railway station was the base of operations for the Rimutaka Incline, a Fell railway over the Rimutaka Ranges, and part of the original Wairarapa Line between Upper Hutt and Featherston in the Wellington region of New Zealand's North Island. The station was between Pigeon Bush and Summit stations on the Wairarapa Line. The station was bypassed when the Rimutaka Tunnel was opened.
Riccarton Junction, in the county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, was a railway village and station. In its heyday it had 118 residents and its own school, post office and grocery store. The station was an interchange between the Border Counties Railway branch to Hexham and the North British Railway's (NBR's) Border Union Railway.
The Border Union Railway was a railway line which connected places in the south of Scotland and Cumberland in England. It was authorised on 21 July 1859 by the Border Union Railways Act 1859 and advertised as the Waverley Route by the promoters - the North British Railway. It connected the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway at Hawick with Carlisle.
The Borders Railway connects the city of Edinburgh with Galashiels and Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders. The railway follows most of the alignment of the northern part of the Waverley Route, a former double-track line in southern Scotland and northern England that ran between Edinburgh and Carlisle. That line was controversially closed in 1969, as part of the Beeching cuts, leaving the Borders region without any access to the National Rail network. Following the closure, a campaign to revive the Waverley Route emerged. Discussion on reopening the northern part of the line came to a head during the early 2000s. Following deliberations in the Scottish Parliament, the Waverley Railway (Scotland) Act 2006 received royal assent in June 2006. The project was renamed the "Borders Railway" in August 2008, and building works began in November 2012. Passenger service on the line began on 6 September 2015, whilst an official opening by Queen Elizabeth II took place on 9 September.
Glen Douglas Halt railway station was known as Craggan in the line's construction reports, also Glen Douglas Siding, Glen Douglas Platform (Private), Glen Douglas (Private) and finally Glen Douglas Halt. Opened by the North British Railway in 1894 its status has changed several times along with its official name. The form Glendouglas was also sometimes used, such as on the platform name board.
Inveruglas was a remote temporary private railway station near the hamlet of Inveruglas, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Opened in 1945 by the LNER, it was built in connection with the construction of the Sloy Hydro-Electric facility and was located on the Ardlui side of the Inveruglas Viaduct and recorded to be out of use by around 1948.
Faslane Platform railway station or Faslane Junction Platform railway station was a temporary private railway station located near the Stuckendoff PoW camp, Shandon, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Opened in 1945 by the LNER in connection with the construction of the Loch Sloy Hydro-Electric facility and was located on the Shandon side of the Chapel Burn and recorded to be out of use by around 1949 in the British Railways era.
Shankend Viaduct is a former railway viaduct in the Scottish Borders just over six miles south of the town of Hawick. It is a category B listed building.