The Caledonian Railway in Edinburgh, Granton and Leith

In 1856 the Caledonian Railway entered into an agreement with the Duke of Buccleuch to build a line to his harbour at Granton financed on a fifty-fifty basis but operated by the Caledonian Railway.

In 1857 the CR obtained an Act authorising the building of a line from Granton Junction on their ill-fated Haymarket Branch to Breakwater Junction.

The CR had hoped to connect this line to the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway’s line at Haymarket but the Directors of the E&GR rejected this proposal and instead the branch served industries along the line.

The E&GR was eventually absorbed by the NBR on 1 August, 1865.

The Granton Branch eventually opened in 1861 as a single line for goods and mineral traffic.

With the arrival of the CR, this gave Granton a direct link to the coalfields and industrial areas of West Lothian and Lanarkshire.

The line to Granton left the CR’s main line at Slateford Junction. At Granton Junction the line headed north east through the Gorgie area of the city passing under Slateford Road and across Gorgie Road before turning north at Murieston in the Dalry area to cross the E&GR main line at Haymarket Central Junction before crossing the Corstorphine Road at Murrayfield.

The former CR Granton Branch actually ended in a ‘fork’, with one line going down on a steep grade towards the Western Breakwater, the other to a goods and mineral station in Granton with access (via the lines of the Duke of Buccleuch) to the Middle Pier at Granton, upon which the Edinburgh, Perth & Dundee Railway (NBR) was already established.

In 1862 the CR obtained an Act for a line from Crew Junction to the Western Docks at Leith.

In 1863 the CR bought out the Duke of Buccleuch’s share and acquired full control of the line to Granton which was then doubled.

In 1864 a line to Leith was opened for goods and mineral traffic. At the same time a spur was opened at Dalry allowing through running of trains from Lothian Road station to Granton and Leith. This line turned west then north west crossing Dalry Road to connect with the line coming in from Slateford at Coltbridge Junction which was just before the bridge carrying the line over the former E&GR (NBR) Edinburgh-Glasgow line at Haymarket Central Junction.  

On 3 July, 1876 the Western Dalry Branch, opened allowing CR trains access to the NBR lines at Haymarket West Junction so giving the CR running powers over their rival’s lines allowing the CR access to Stirling, Perth and further north.

In 1879 passenger traffic opened to Leith.

When the Lothian Road station was replaced by the CR’s new Princes Street Station (the Caley), opened in 1894, passenger trains for Leith now left from the new station.

There were stations at Dalry Road (1900-1962), Murrayfield (1879-1962) and Craigleith (1879-1962).

At Craigleith Junction the line branched west to Cramond Brig (Barnton). There was a Halt at House o’ Hill opened 1 February, 1937 and stations at Barnton Gate (name changed to Davidson’s Mains on 1 April, 1903) and Cramond Brig (name changed to Barnton on 1 April, 1903), both of which opened on 1 March, 1894.  All these stations closed on 7 May, 1951.

At Crew Junction (spelt this way so as not to be confused with Crewe Junction in England) the line to Granton branched off to the north whilst the line to Leith turned eastward.

On the Leith section of the line there were stations at East Pilton Halt, opened 1 December, 1934, Granton Road, Newhaven and finally Leith North (terminus) all of which opened on 1 August, 1879. When the latter station was opened it was simply known as Leith but was renamed North Leith on 1 August, 1903 after the opening of the NBR’s Leith Central station and then Leith North on 7 April, 1952.

Crew Junction was an important exchange yard dealing with traffic going to and from the NBR system at Granton Square as well as from Granton Harbour and Granton Gas Works.

Immediately north of Crew Junction, Ferry Road was crossed by two separate bridges, the westmost bridge carrying the Granton Branch and the eastmost bridge the Leith Branch.

Both bridges were replaced by a single bridge when Ferry Road was widened but in November, 1999 this bridge was removed and replaced with a pedestrian only bridge across Ferry Road.

An information board giving a brief history of the railway has been placed beside the red pedestrian bridge. The only station still extant on the line is Newhaven Station.

On 5 May, 1958 the Edinburgh Princes Street to Leith North passenger services were dieselised.

On 28 April, 1962 the Edinburgh Princes Street to Leith North passenger services ceased.

On 7 September, 1964 the former CR Haymarket Branch (Duff Street) was eventually connected to the former E&GR (NBR) line at Haymarket.

On 6 September, 1965 Edinburgh Princes Street station closed completely.

However, nearly six months after closure, on 16 October, 1962, the very last passenger train ran from Leith North. A temporary platform was erected to convey King Olav V of Norway on a State Visit to Princes Street where he was met by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.

A station was built at Granton Gas Works operated by the Caledonian Railway which formally opened on 27 February, 1903 for the sole use of the workers as there was no other transport links to the Gas Works at this time.

This station was eventually closed by the LMS in 1942 as transport links improved.

The site of the old Gas Works is now occupied by Edinburgh College and a supermarket. 

The original station building still stands and has recently been redeveloped.

The refurbished station is managed by WASPS (Workshops & Artists Studio Provisions Scotland Ltd).

The redevelopment is intended to provide office and flexible work spaces for the creative, charity and social enterprise sectors.

The former CR goods station building and yard at Granton, which closed on 5 February, 1968, still stands and is currently used by William Waugh, Scrap Merchant.

The last trains to use the former CR line at Granton were oil trains which served the Texaco Oil Terminal, built in 1959, which was situated behind the old Gas Works Station. This service ended in the 1980s.

The original line to Granton from Crew Junction was realigned to make way for a new road called West Granton Access.

The line to Leith follows the original route and is now a cycle path/walkway.

To see more pictures of the Caledonian Railway in Edinburgh, Granton and Leith please visit my Flickr site under the album, Edinburgh, Granton and Leith Railways.