Waverley Line - Historic Exploration

Historic Exploration

As the line was built by the North British Railway, it fell under the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at the Grouping in 1923. However the two expresses from London had traditionally run via the Midland Railway's Midland Main Line, and since the Midland became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) group, the daytime 'Waverley' express and overnight sleeping car train were hauled by LMS locomotives to Carlisle, then LNER locomotives to Edinburgh Waverley.

The expresses were limited stop and in the 1950s covered the mileage from Carlisle to Edinburgh in roughly two-and-a-half hours. Motive power was usually a Gresley A3 Pacific locomotive, a class unsuited to hill climbing. With large driving wheels and three cylinders, they were designed for long stretches of 80+ mph running on heavy expresses - the 'Waverley' express was typically eight coaches and the Waverley Route was 70 mph maximum with many tight curves limited to much lower speed. On the climb from Newcastleton to Whitrope Summit the train would be down to 30 mph by Steele Road, with the locomotive being worked flat out.

Other passenger services (usually three per day) were also worked by A3s, although Thompson B1 4-6-0s made regular appearances. There was also a daily Gresley A4 diagram between Edinburgh and Carlisle - an overnight fitted freight southbound, returning with the early morning parcels train. Thompson Pacifics appeared later on, just before the line was dieselised in a drive for efficiency. In addition there were also several local passenger workings between Galashiels and Edinburgh (some via the Peebles loop) and between Hawick and Carlisle. These tended to be hauled by B1s, although V1 2-6-2 tank engines made occasional appearances, as did D49 4-4-0s.

After the end of steam, a variety of diesels worked passenger trains, especially Class 24 and 26 Sulzer-engined diesels and even Class 17 Claytons on local stoppers, and long-distance trains were often covered by Class 45 Peaks.

Freight workings were heavy and frequent, and hauled by a multitude of different classes. The significant workings were pulled by Gresley V2 2-6-2s and Gresley K3 2-6-0s as well as A3s. V2s provided service for over 30 years. In the 1960s, once the short-lived marshalling yards at Carlisle Kingmoor and Edinburgh Millerhill were opened, they worked hourly freights right through the day and night. Depending on the maximum speed of the freight working, a Carlisle to Edinburgh freight could take anything from four to seven hours. There were also stopping freight trains from Hawick to Edinburgh and Hawick to Carlisle and back, each taking a full day to complete the round trip, stopping to shunt at every station yard. These tended to be hauled by J39 0-6-0 locomotives, although BR standard class 4 2-6-0s replaced them later on.

One notable working in later years was a daily Halewood (Liverpool) to Bathgate freight train carrying Ford cars on carflats. Due to the heavy load, the booked motive power was a Gresley V2 and a Stanier Class 5 double-headed, usually with the V2 on the front.