North Berwick Branch

[v · d · e]North Berwick Branch
Legend North Berwick Projected Aberlady, Gullane and North Berwick Railway Williamstown Dirleton North British Railway Main Line Drem Junction Drem North British Railway Main Line

The North Berwick Branch was promoted by the North British Railway to connect North Berwick to its Main Line at Drem.

History

In 1846, the North British Railway (NBR) obtained an Act of Parliament (the North Berwick Railway Act) authorising the construction of a branch line from Drem Junction to North Berwick Harbour. The final half mile line of the approved line would have involved substantial embankments carrying the line down to and along the foreshore in order to reach the harbour, and it was soon decided that this expense was not justified. The branch opened as far as a temporary terminus at Williamstown (East Lothian) on 13 August 1849, and the permanent terminus at North Berwick opened on 17 June 1850.^[1] The temporary Williamstown station closed as soon as North Berwick opened, and a small intermediate station at Dirleton opened on the same day.

When completed the branch line was 4.7 miles long, and although all earthworks and structures were built to accommodate double tracks,^{[citation needed]} only one line of rails was ever laid. Initially the line was not a success, and in 1856 the NBR attempted to cut costs by converting most of the branch passenger trains to horse traction. A small horse-drawn carriage was transferred from the Portobello to Leith line, but this lasted only a year before being withdrawn. The carriage was known as the 'Dandy Car', and was later sold to the Silloth Railway for use on their Port Carlisle branch. It is now preserved at the National Railway Museum in York.

Current operations

The two intermediate stations are now closed.^[2] However, the line is open to passenger traffic served by First ScotRail from Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central as part of the North Berwick Line.

Rolling stock

The North Berwick branch has been served by an interesting variety of rolling stock over its life. Steam locomotives were typically tank engines, North British Railway 4-4-0T, 0-4-4T and 4-4-2T successively being the norm. By the end of regular steam passenger service on the branch in 1958, LNER Class V1/V3 2-6-2T engines were the usual power. Despite there being no turntable, tender engines were also used on both passenger and goods traffic, mainly 4-4-0s and 0-6-0s. Excursion traffic very occasionally brought larger engines such as K3 Class 2-6-0s. LNER steam railcars were tried in the late 1920s and '30s, with limited success. Clayton Type 1 diesel locomotives operated the branch goods service in its final years, but subsequently visits by diesel locomotive have been confined to occasional engineering trains.

Early diesel multiple units (DMUs) used on the line from 1958 onwards were Class 100 and Class 101. Subsequently, many different types of DMU appeared on the line, including Class 104, Class 105, Class 107, Class 108 and Class 120. In 1987 new Class 150 Sprinter DMUs took over some services.

Upon electrification in 1991, five thirty-year-old 305 electric multiple units (EMUs) were refurbished for the line, having been made redundant from London Liverpool Street suburban services. In their later years these trains became unreliable, and deputisation by diesel units (including equally elderly Class 117s) was not uncommon. Prior to privatisation, it was not unknown for InterCity 125 diesel-electric units to operate to North Berwick if no other train was available.

Most services were operated using five Class 322 4-car EMUs. These trains were built in 1990 for use on London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport express services, but were displaced from these services by 2001 when they were leased to ScotRail to allow withdrawal of the elderly Class 305s. Their lease expired in mid-2004 and the 322s returned to England, prompting a search for suitable replacement stock. No modern EMUs were available at the time, and remarkably the line reverted to locomotive haulage for a time, using Class 90 electric locomotives hired from EWS and former Virgin Trains Mark 3 coaches, with each set incorporating a DVT to allow push-pull operation.

In mid-2005 the Class 322 units became available again, refurbished for permanent use by First ScotRail. Apart from the Class 322s, diesel units of Classes 156, 158 and 170 also operated some services, mainly on Saturdays when there were not enough EMUs to maintain a half-hour frequency throughout the day.

In June 2011, Class 380s began operating the North Berwick line, phasing out all Class 322s which were all returned to England.

Connections to other lines

• North British Railway Main Line at Drem
• Aberlady, Gullane and North Berwick Railway connection at North Berwick was planned, but never constructed

References

Notes

1. ^ Butt (1995), page 173
2. ^ RAILSCOT

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199. 
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137. 
• RAILSCOT on the North Berwick Branch