Talla Railway
Encyclopedia
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
construction railway in Scotland active from 1897 to 1910. Located in the Scottish Borders
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
, its most substantial engineering feature was the Tweed Viaduct, a 100 foot (30 m) girder bridge built to carry the railway and water pipeline across the River Tweed
River Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is long and flows primarily through the Borders region of Great Britain. It rises on Tweedsmuir at Tweed's Well near where the Clyde, draining northwest, and the Annan draining south also rise. "Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside" as the Border saying...
at Glenrusco to the north of Tweedsmuir
Tweedsmuir
The village of Tweedsmuir is a village and civil parish situated from the source of the River Tweed, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland....
.
Route
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...
metals at Rachan Junction, near Broughton
Broughton, Tweeddale
Broughton is a village in Tweeddale in the Scottish Borders. Towns and villages nearby include Biggar, Drumelzier, Kilbucho, and Peebles.The village has a post office, village store, bowling green, tennis courts, a village hall, petrol station and garage, and an art gallery...
station (originally part of the Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway
Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway
The Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway Company was a railway in southern Scotland. It was later absorbed by the Caledonian Railway, and is now closed...
's network), the railway followed the route of the River Tweed and what is now the A701
A701 road
-Route:The A701 leaves Dumfries and travels north to meet the A74 at Beattock. It thens joins the A74 for a short spell before branching off to the north-east towards Moffat and ultimately Edinburgh....
closely for 8 miles (13 km) in a southerly direction. It extended to Victoria Lodge, the headquarters for the dam's construction. An intermediate stop with wooden platforms was later established at Crook Halt, to serve the Crook Inn
Crook Inn
The Crook Inn is an inn in the Scottish Borders, near the village of Tweedsmuir on the A701 road between Broughton and Moffat. It is one of many claimants to be the oldest inn in Scotland. Robert Burns wrote "Willie Wastle's Wife" there. In the early 20th century a halt was built on the Talla...
.
History
The railway was built by the Edinburgh and District Water Trust to assist construction of the Talla ReservoirTalla Reservoir
Talla Reservoir, located a mile from Tweedsmuir, Scottish Borders, Scotland, is an earth-work dam fed by Talla Water. The reservoir is supplemented by water from the nearby Fruid Reservoir...
which lies 1000 feet (300 m) above sea level and was built to supply 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...
with water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
. Construction was by James Young & Sons. On 29 September 1897 a stone-laying ceremony marked the start of construction of Victoria Lodge, at the southern terminus. The building is now a private house. Material was lifted from there to the construction site by a ropeway, called a "Blondin" after the famous tightrope walker Charles Blondin
Charles Blondin
Jean François Gravelet-Blondin was a French tightrope walker and acrobat.-Life:Blondin was born on 24 February 1824 at St Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France. His real name was Jean-François Gravelet, and he was known also by the names Charles Blondin or Jean-François Blondin, or more simply "The Great...
.
The Caledonian Railway was persuaded to double the line from Broughton Station to Rachan Junction, and a new platform was built at Broughton.
Materials brought in included stone and aggregates from quarries in North Queensferry
North Queensferry
North Queensferry is a village in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth, between the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge, and from Edinburgh. According to the 2008 population estimate, the village has a population of 1,150. It is the southernmost settlement in Fife.The Scottish Gaelic name...
and Craigleith. Pipes, valve gear and pumping equipment came from central Scotland. Puddle clay, the mixture of clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
, gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
and sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
used for a watertight seal (which was perfected by canal builder James Brindley
James Brindley
James Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...
) came from the Carluke
Carluke
The town of Carluke lies in the heart of the Lanarkshire countryside in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, 5.4 miles northwest of Lanark and 4 miles southeast of Wishaw....
area. Over 100,000 tons of material were transported for the building of the reservoir.
When James Young & Sons went bankrupt in 1899, the main contract was taken over by John Best of Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
, who had been one of the main sub-contractors on the project, the other being Robert McAlpine
Sir Robert McAlpine
Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd. is a private British company headquartered in London. It carries out engineering and construction for the oil and gas, petrochemical, power generation, nuclear, pharmaceutical, defence, chemical, water and mining industries.-History:...
& Sons. Best opened a halt at Crook Siding, close to the Crook Inn
Crook Inn
The Crook Inn is an inn in the Scottish Borders, near the village of Tweedsmuir on the A701 road between Broughton and Moffat. It is one of many claimants to be the oldest inn in Scotland. Robert Burns wrote "Willie Wastle's Wife" there. In the early 20th century a halt was built on the Talla...
, which proved very popular with workers returning after their work, who would stop there for refreshments. Best had shrewdly bought a share of the inn prior to this.
As the reservoir neared completion, run-down of the line started in 1904. The reservoir opened on 20 May 1905, and the railway closed soon afterwards. It was sold for scrap in 1910 and all track had been lifted by 1912.
The Tweed Viaduct still carries the water pipe, which is still in use and supplies water from the reservoir to Edinburgh, 28 miles (45 km) to the north.