Formation
The city of Edinburgh had an accelerating demand for coal in the early years of the nineteenth century, rising from 200,000 tons per annum in 1800 to 350,000 in 1830.
Coal in the immediate locality was of poor quality and of limited quantity. Better coal was being brought in from Fife and Tyneside by coastal shipping, and from Monklands by the Union Canal. The Duke of Buccleuch had coal pits in the Dalkeith area with superior coal, but road transport to the capital cost 4/- per ton from a final delivery price of 11/- to 17/-. A report prepared for him by his factor John Grieve proposed a railway from his pits to the city, with a branch to Fisherrow, a fishing harbour near Musselburgh.
The Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Company received its Act of Parliament on 26 May 1826. It was designed as a horse-drawn railway, and its engineer, James Jardine, adopted the track gauge of 4 ft 6in, which had been used in the West of Scotland. The line linked coal pits in the Dalkeith area to the city of Edinburgh, bringing coal for domestic and industrial use. The Edinburgh terminus was called St Leonards, located to the south of Salisbury Crags, in the area between the present-day St Leonard's Street and St Leonards's Bank.
The original Act authorised share capital of £70,125; a second Act was obtained on 4 June 1829, authorising further share capital of £8,053, and sanctioning the Leith Branch. The third Act, on 27 June 1834, authorised a further £54,875 to build branches to Fisherrow, and "allowing a certain amount of passenger traffic by horse-drawn railway coaches".
The line was designed by James Jardine, its engineer from 1826; the company's manager David Rankine also had an engineering role from the mid 1830s.
Read more about this topic: Edinburgh And Dalkeith Railway
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