Absorption
A pioneering railway when it opened, the E&DR was being overtaken by technologically more advanced railways. By 1845 the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was under construction, approaching Edinburgh, and the North British Railway (NBR) was planning an extension to Berwick. The E&DR opposed this scheme at the Parliamentary hearings, and was bought off when the NBR agreed to purchase the line for £113,000.
This was a good price for a 12 mile horse-drawn network; the purchase was effective in October 1845. In 1846 the line was closed temporarily while the new owner laid stronger track for locomotive operation, turning it into a proper main line railway. The NBR did the same to the Marquis of Lothian's Waggonway from the South Esk bridge to Arniston, forming a through route from Edinburgh to Gorebridge, opening on 7 July 1847 for goods and a week later for passengers.
A new connecting line from the new North Bridge (later "Waverley") station in Edinburgh via Portobello and Niddrie was opened at the same time, and a formal passenger train service was operated between the North Bridge station and Dalkeith. The North Bridge station was much more convenient for the city and for connecting trains, and usage of the original St Leonards terminus for passengers declined steeply: it closed on 1 November 1847.
A passenger service was put on again from 1 June 1860 but it was so little used that it was finally discontinued on 30 September 1860.
The branch to Fisherrow was linked to a small harbour on the west side of the Esk while the important town of Musselburgh was on the east. The harbour was prone to serious silting, and in 1835 the owners made structural changes to try to disperse the silt; this was unsuccessful and the opening was closed again in 1838. The NBR took the opportunity to build a branch to Musselburgh itself: the harbour there did not suffer so badly; the line crossed the River Esk, and opened in 1847. The Fisherrow line remained open for goods traffic.
Read more about this topic: Edinburgh And Dalkeith Railway
Famous quotes containing the word absorption:
“These philosophers dwell on the inevitability and unchangeableness of laws, on the power of temperament and constitution, the three goon, or qualities, and the circumstances, or birth and affinity. The end is an immense consolation; eternal absorption in Brahma.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The great social adventure of America is no longer the conquest of the wilderness but the absorption of fifty different peoples.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
“The symbolic view of things is a consequence of long absorption in images. Is sign language the real language of Paradise?”
—Hugo Ball (1886–1927)