Merchiston Station was a railway station which served the area of Merchiston

Merchiston

Merchiston is a prosperous, mainly residential area in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The housing is primarily a mixture of large, late Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian villas – several of the latter by Edward Calvert – together with a smaller number of Victorian tenements and...

 in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, for around eighty years. The station was built by the Caledonian Railway

Caledonian Railway

The Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century and it was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways Act 1921...

 between 1879 and 1883, with the last passenger service in September 1965. The station was demolished shortly afterwards and the track bed

Track bed

A track bed or trackbed is the term used to describe the groundwork onto which a railway track is laid. Trackbeds of disused railways are sometimes used for recreational paths or new light rail links....

 has become a footpath

Trail

A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...

.

The station was located in the neighbourhood sometimes known as "North Merchiston" but more commonly as Shandon

Shandon, Edinburgh

Shandon is an area of Edinburgh within North Merchiston approximately three miles west of the centre of Edinburgh. It is bounded by Slateford Road to the north, Harrison Road to the east, the Union Canal to the south and the Glasgow-Edinburgh and Suburban rail lines to the west.- Etymology :Harris...

, and typically taken to be part of the area of Polwarth

Polwarth, Edinburgh

Polwarth is a mainly residential area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is bounded by Bruntsfield and Merchiston to the east and south, Gorgie and Dalry to the north, and Craiglockhart to the west....

, rather than Merchiston. Merchiston was also served by Craiglockhart railway station

Craiglockhart railway station

Craiglockhart Railway Station was a railway station in Scotland on the Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway . It was opened on 1 December 1884...

 to the south-west of the area, on the North British Railway

North British Railway

The North British Railway was a Scottish railway company that was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923.-History:...

's Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway

Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway

The Edinburgh Suburban and South Side Junction Railway is a freight and former commuter railway which runs in a loop across the southern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It opened in 1884 for both freight and passenger services...

.

Construction of the station

The station was constructed between 1879 and 1883 with two platforms

Railway platform

A railway platform is a section of pathway, alongside rail tracks at a train station, metro station or tram stop, at which passengers may board or alight from trains or trams. Almost all stations for rail transport have some form of platforms, with larger stations having multiple platforms...

 and a small overhead footbridge. The station was located around 1 km east of Slateford Station

Slateford railway station

Slateford railway station is a railway station serving Slateford in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located on the Shotts Line from Glasgow Central to Edinburgh Waverley via Shotts. The station has two platforms, connected by a stairway footbridge, and CCTV...

 and approximately 2.25 km west of Princes Street Station

Princes Street railway station

Princes Street Station was a mainline railway station which stood at the west end of Princes Street, in Edinburgh, Scotland, for almost 100 years. A temporary station was opened in 1870, with construction of the main station commencing in the 1890s. The station was closed completely in 1965 and...

, at the bottom of Bonaly Place (since renamed Harrison Place).

Closure

The station's last passenger service was on 10 September 1962. The first part of the old line from Princes Street Station – now the Western Approach Road, built in the 1970s – leads from Lothian Road to Angle Park Terrace beside Dalry Cemetery, with a branch to Roseburn at the former Dalry Road station. The part of the track occupying the former station at Merchiston is now a footpath, extending to a service road leading west to Slateford Yards.

Sources

External links

• Information about Merchiston Station
• Edinburgh's railway history (via archive.org)