The Berwickshire Railway

Members, particularly  those with connections to Berwickshire and/or having an interest in railways, might well be interested in a book published in the last few days entitled "St Boswells to Berwick via Duns, the Berwickshire Railway".

The book, the latest of a series of similar volumes, traces the history of this branch line  which was opened in three stages; the first from Reston to Duns in 1849, then from Duns to Earlston in 1863 and in 1865 after the completion of the Leaderfoot Viaduct  to St. Boswells.

The book has many fine photographs of the line, stations and bridges along the way and locomotives which plied the route; also maps and much background information. Certainly a must for all railway enthusiasts

With a very attractive hardback cover the book, which extends to 96 pages and contains 120 photographs, may be purchased from Middleton Press

The price is £16.95 including postage.

For further information on the line see also Dunse History Society 

Railway to Duns

There’s a long article about the branch line that ran from Reston on the East Coast Mainline to Duns in the August 2011 edition of Backtrack (Vol 25 Number 8). The line opened in 1849 and closed to passengers in 1951. Goods traffic lasted until 1964. There were intermediate stations at Chirnside and Edrom and there references to a number of individuals. Names mentioned are – Arthur, Affleck, Brunton, Brydon, Cleland, Dagg, Davidson, Farnie, Friar, Kerr, Leitch, Nicholl, Patterson, Purves, Scott, Robertson, Thomson, Thornton, White, Whytock and Young