Riccarton Junction - Remote Abandoned Station - Ep 005
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- čas přidán 4. 08. 2024
- Scotland you are beautiful. In this little waffle and walk we trekked from Saughtree to Riccarton Junction on the old Border Counties Line. We believe this to be 3k form the nearest Road (Non-private) which certainly qualifies it for our little list of remote disused stations.
A few footnotes. We don't like to do masses of research before we trek, just a little. We appreciate that there are so many people with a far better knowledge of the places we explore, thus we would much rather ask a few questions along the way and hopefully engage you all a little.
So with that in mind here are the unanswered questions from today!
1) What happened to "The Friends of Riccarton Junction"? It looked like an amazing yet mammoth project.
2) Why was Riccarton Junction so big?
3) The embankment that we saw south east of the station is massive! We assume that they would have built a tunnel underneath perpendicular to the embankment for the water of "Riccarton Burn"?
Thanks for Watching. Paul and Rebecca - Zábava
Platelayers huts were there for the men that maintained the railway track AFTER the railway had been constructed. Railway lines need constant work, packing the ballast under the sleepers if a section had started to sink, checking the chairs and keys that held the rails to the sleepers, checking the fishplate bolts were still nice and tight. Each mile or so of track had a couple of men assigned to look after it - the hut was placed to allow them easy access to tools, shelter, a brew, warmth in the winter. The platelayers took great pride in their 'length' with competitions to produce the neatest section of line - even the ballast edges either side of the line were straightened with any loose stones swept neatly into place. Theirs was a highly responsible job, still done today by mobile gangs, although much of the alignment work is now done my rail-mounted tampers and stone blowers. Great videos - keep up the good work!
Thank you Martin, the most comprehensive answer to date. Very much appreciated.
@@pwhitewick You are most welcome.
Great video Paul and Rebecca, many thanks for posting , i stayed at Saughtree Station a couple of weeks ago, terrific accommodation thanks to Rob and Rachel as you say.
I went to Riccarton Junction while i was there, sad to say, the site is much more overgrown nowadays, the station sign is still on the platform and the description board is still there, although surrounded by vegetation.
A great shame the "Friends of Riccarton Junction " group folded, for whatever reason.
Hopefully one day, the aim of the "Campaign for Borders Rail" will succeed in their efforts to reopen the former Waverley Route in its entirety and there will be a railway through the area once again.
PS sorry to be pedantic, but believe its pronounced Sofftree and not Sawtry lol .
I don't know why but Riccarton Junction has always held a fascination for me ever since I discovered it online.( no pun intended) . Great video as well. Your wife and yourself must be the fittest rail fans in U K.
Thanks Richard. We set about doing this series just a few months ago, it seemed to crop up as a "must visit" time and time again.
As "Young Mr Grace"said from "Are You Being Served",carry on.
First discovered it in a book fifty years ago,it had been closed five years before,though the actual junction with the Border Counties line had been closed nearer twenty even then,
fascinating story
A great video again love walking old lines and finding things you did not expect to find along the way
Fantastic guys l am fascinated by this place for some reason .
I even have the railway to riccarton record ! I,m turning into my late father.The quality of the recording ,with birds song etc , the northbound fright attacking the 1/75 climb to the junction .fab stuff.keep on doing your stuff .rich from Devon .
Stupidly, I gave away that record years ago. The sounds are fantastic, especially the night owls with a locomotive approaching the camera making its noises.
No bad thing,still miss my old man although he has been gone thirty years. Did a lot of railways in Scotland and England with him as a kid many of them still running' The railway staff were great with kids so long as you were not a little hooligan.
Dad was from Devonport.The Royal Navy and Adolf brought him to Scotland. Mums family were Yorkshire and Scottish,great childhood,railways,trams and ships galore. Love Paul and Rebecca,s videos,travelled some of those lines as a kid
Great video. I visited there in 1981 with a friend who lived in Kielder village. It wasnt so overgrown and we went in the shell of the stationmasters house on the hillside.
another great find... smashing presentation. ta lots.
Thank you for a great video. I enjoyed this.
Thanks for posting. Rebecca glad you found a man who shares you interest in old railways. Especially how you get Paul to carry the camera and do the narration, as you beguingley supervise in the background.
But you look at the time and effort into making Riccarton Junction and then destroyed, makes one weep.
Lovely video both, many thanks for posting! Leaderfoot Viaduct is a bit further up the line between Newtown St. Boswells and Earlston, it's a beauty if you ever get up that way!
Superb! Thank you very much.
This line is one of my wishes to see open right through to Carlisle from the current railhead at Tweedbank. This area is so so remote, i would like to get up there before Network Rail starts putting down the new trackwork. Great little video, thanks for sharing.
Interesting history walk
Remote as it may be, but the Riccarton Junction sign must be the most photgraphed railway sign in the whole of the UK !!
Super video. Very interesting and enjoyable
Thanks Michael.
Great video, have just stayed at the B & B and managed to get a ride on the train there, what a superb chap Geoff is with his hard work with all the family and friends to restore the track layout to when it was in use. First time I ever got to operate a set of points too! And what great hosts - super food and get to day in the old station - very cosy and well looked after. I plan to return there with my brother to do the walk you have done - strangely he also has a degree in Environmental Science - from UEA. Shame the friends at Riccarton fell apart! Also waiting from Whitrope siding to re-open too so we can have a look at their stock and history cabin too.
Ah wonderful. Glad you enjoyed it. Super hosts indeed.
only just found your channel. Really enjoying the videos. Walked the Meon Valley line a week or so ago, then looked on CZcams for more info and found your channel. Perfect.
Welcome to the party Russell. Spread the word good Sir (and forgive us this weekend, as we have a Q&A video as a little filler). Normal service next week!
@@pwhitewick I will indeed spread the word. I have a lot of videos to catch up on, so will be busy this weekend watching your old stuff.
Azmasing, Im just reading about this line right now from ' Railways Across The Border'. I'll be visiting as well. 'Slow train to Riccarton' is worth a watch. TA
Great Video, really enjoyed that, shame about the rain but looking at the Middleton Press: Carlisle to Hardwick book and Riccarton Junction used to be a Railway Town, had engine sheds and had a workshop but the workshops were moved in 1921 from Riccarton to Lockpark Engineering Sidings and the town never recovered, it also mentioned Friends of Riccarton Junction, which was formed in 1997, relaid a section of track in 2005 but following a internal dispute the scheme was abandoned in 2006 and the site was handed back to the Forestry Comission.
Thanks Simon. We managed to avoid getting run over by the logging lorries (there we quite a few). Weather did indeed cut us short and we were unable to get the drone up too. Hey ho, still an amazing site.
Great channel!
Thanks Phillip 👍 lots more to come!
Nice video
You may know already, as this is an older video. The huts are for gangers/ pway workers( track maintenance). Basically a place for shelter and grub break, maybe store some tools, also equipped with a fire for heat.
Another great video.🚂🇳🇿
Thank you, yup we've since learnt, but thanks for taking the time anyway.
Wow, Paul, Rebecca, I passed Saughtree Station last year while I was on a sailing holiday on Kielder Water. I felt compelled to stop & take photos. I had no idea it was a B&B. I feel that other garden railway enthusiasts may be envious.
Hi, maybe youve seen The slow train to Riccarton video 1986. what I found interesting was the dereliction in 30 years after closure. Even more fascinating is seeing your video after another 30 odd years, where there is almost nothing left. Thankyou for sharing. Just noticed a link posted previously about the 86 video. Riccarton, ricaarton same thing
Cheers, yup we've seen this video. Absolutely brilliant.
Very interesting and certainly very remote! A heritage line would be great if it could run of one of the sizable towns to get the passengers.
Yup. Just too remote to bring in any revenue
Great exploration! Plenty to see, a real shame a route like this was discontinued, a great lack of insight to close the Waverley route, along with many others.
It could have been trimmed down to suit, instead of complete abandonment.
Can never understand the accountants arguments if it don't pay, let's take it away.
Crazy thinking.
It's a resource to use at anytime.
Now in the 21st century, people are voicing their wishes for rail to come back in more places.
Thanks for sharing with us.🙂👊👍
great video :)
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed.
You may have seen it but the York rail Museum is huge with rolling stock and locos. I spent an afternoon there in 17. Well worth a look and maybe a video.
Yup, been there a few times now cheers.
The little huts were for the guys who actually looked after the track day to day. There would be three or four men to each hut and they would look after about a mile of track. They even had accommodation within some of the longer tunnels. Check out Martins video of the Standedge Tunnels.
Thanks Paul. Yes I've seen a few like that also in Wales... Large rooms at the half way point. Fascinating stuff and a world apart from today.
i went last year when i stayed at newcasleton i be going again this july amazing walk
We would love to go again this year, not sure of the plans yet, but who knows.
@@pwhitewick every year i stay at newcasleton for the traditional music festival and whitrope heritage centre is brilliant
Another great video which gives the 'armchair visitor' a great look into the history and reasons behind the desuetude of the location. How about amplifying your comments by the use of a Drone? I am sure your comments on the 'huge drop' from track level at 9:08 would have been even more exciting!
Sadly we didn't try the drone here. I can't recall if it was a combination of the wet weather or the constant stream of lorries.
I was on the last special passenger train on the Waverly line in 1968 .... Newcastle. Carlisle Edinburgh Newcastle. Hauled by a Deltic the train was packed !
Ah fantastic. I read about that trip in a book recently
I am a new sub from martins video
Welcome to the channel Caroline. We hope you enjoy it. 👍👍
I stayed up that way years ago in Bellingham and vaguely recall learning about the local railways in a heritage centre. Not sure if that was in Bellingham or another village.
In edinburgh in a place called newington the stairs leading down to newington station are still there
I believe the amount of huts is to do with the weather and the remote nature of the location. When it snows they used to send the line gangs out to keep an eye on rail infrastructure; stop things freezing and getting bogged down in snow. Would be hard going. I have a m8 who used to do it (in England) in the 80s. He said you used to work like f*** just to keep warm and then you'd be running around trying to pinch coal out of the 4ft to use in the huts so you could have some tea.
My understanding is platelayers huts were spaced out because the platelayers walked the length of the track to inspect the track condition and in bad weather needed a refuge.
Paul, I'm just killing time on CZcams, as you do - and just before watching this film I watched a whole episode of Coast to Coast - which used to be a kind of travel documentary on TV... Entitled, "Slow Train to Riccarton, 1986;" this will answer most of your questions I think, as it features the last train and there are interviews with many people who lived along the line or worked on it - including people who lived in the former community of Riccarton Junction - most of which has now been demolished. The context is extraordinary however, as right up the end, there was no electricity north of Bellingham - and it was only in 1955 that ONE of the houses had electricity installed!
In response to your question as to why the facilities at Riccarton were so extensive, you need to look much deeper into the history of the North British, and to a lesser extent, the Caledonian, Railways. Basically, both were desperate to reach the docks of the Tyne - and the NB had the additional headache of trying to keep the Caledonian out of what it saw as its' territory! It was a delicate balance for the NB which of course didn't want to sour relations with the NER either; hence it ended up with both the long, rambling routes between Blyth, Morpeth and Riccarton to Reedsmouth and Hexham the St Boswells to Tweedmouth line being jointly operated with the NER]. The only line that might have offered a reasonable cut off onto the NB part of that route was what became the Rothbury branch - as the original intention was that it should run from Scots Gap to Kelso or thereabouts. Alas, the northern part was never built...
While I certainly don't disagree with your assertion that a preserved line [such as exists in embryonic form at Whitrope] would help maintain the viability of heritage groups; it has the problem of being an awful long way from any major centres of population - along slow country roads with virtually no bus services; and is therefore likely to struggle to attract sufficient numbers of volunteers, let alone visitors. Riccarton / Saughtree don't exactly have much in the way of passing trade either... A visit to the Strathspey and the Keith and Dufftown Railways in 20 revealed that both of these suffer from the difficulty of attracting sufficient volunteers; and can only do so by providing accommodation for people doing working holidays...
This from the disused stations website, so apologies in advance if you have seen this before:
www.disused-stations.org.uk/r/riccarton_junction/
Hi Paul, i am sure you know by now that Riccarton was on a major trunk route and a hub for the waverley route..hope this explains a bit..
Thanks Bella. Yup we often learn a lot more about the lines we visit after we have made the video.
Off princess street edinburgh the orginal gateway is still there that led into Caley station
It is a shame that in 2008 the preservation group " Friends of Riccarton junction " closed down after falling out with each other and all the restoration work done to the platform including some new track laid was left to go back to nature , a great loss of a potential heritage asset to history if not also the benefit to the local community.
Paul I was aware that there was a 'Friends of Riccarton group but didn't know that they had disbanded. What a shame. Any idea what they fell out about? If you consider Riccarton as being the second most isolated station in the UK what was the most isolated?
I'm sure you know that Riccarton had a sub shed to Hawick (64G) where I saw my first Class D30 locomotive with those marvellous names- Wandering Willie, Jingling Geordie, Dumbiedykes et al.
Thanks Anthony that's brilliant,. O we didn't know that.
I'm not 100% sure why the group disbanded so I won't speculate a rumour here that may not give both sides. I am hoping someone with a better knowledge will set us straight.
Ah well take a peak at Episode 004 in this series and you'll see Loch Skerrow. Little doubt that if you don't include current rail usage this is certainly the most remote. (Criteria being furthest from a public highway a motorised vehicle can use and not on the nation rail network).
Thanks again.
@@pwhitewick It would appear that there was a take over by another related group. Weather or not their intentions were honorable would be speculative.
Would be brilliant if line could be extended onward from Tweedbank to Carlisle but a heritage railway? No - far too isolated! Would have difficulty attracting both visitors & volunteers. Very interesting video though.
if line came back would be worth a double line from heritage centre to riccerton people would visit
Unfortunately the tunnel at Whitrope would cost a lot of money to make useable.
It's hard to see how any heritage railway in that area could work ... heritage railways need visitors, and there isn't anywhere nearby for them to come from! The nearest town is Hawick, 15 miles to the north, and then you've got Carlisle 30 miles to the south, but that's it. I can't think of any successful heritage line that runs in such a remote area, so far away from potential visitors.
I couldn't agree more Steve, especially with Whitrope sidings just a short way up the line too and far more accessible!
@@pwhitewick Except it is possible that the line between Carlisle and Tweedbank may be rebuilt. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borders_Railway. Long term the line from Hexham and Carlisle will be needed for rail freight. It is weird that Scotland only has two railway lines into it, and both lines are already busy with passenger trains.
@@hairyairey try going north of Edinburgh or Glasgow and the electrification stops so they have to use diesel trains, which are heavier and slower than fully electric ones.
To get from Aberdeen to Glasgow or Edinburgh takes about 2.5 hours - I can get to London and back in less under that on the West Coast Mainline.
@@RichardWatt this is where the Azuma trains will help as they are bi-mode - Spain has been running bi-mode trains for some time.
🙂🚂🚂🚂
There was a bitter battle and war of words between members of the Waverley Railway Heritage Association [WRHA] and the Friends of Riccarton Junction [FRJ] which resulted in the latter being sadly disbanded.
Ah we didn't realise it was two different groups.
@@pwhitewick as supplied by Ian Dolby
www.riccartonjunction.org/history.html
Also
www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/railway-feud-erupts-into-bitter-scenes-1-655905
www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/news/derailed-boss-steamed-up-over-shunting-1-93154
Geoffrey Evison died in Jan 2015
In newhaven edinburgh the station has been restored
as a leither i can say the station building has been re painted the station down on the bottom is completely trashed
Hi. I suggest checking out www.disused-stations.org.uk as there's a page for Riccarton Junction on there
Thank you.
@@pwhitewick You're welcome. I've been looking around Rugby and found a disused canal tunnel.
Some drone shots might have been nice, I think (although I don't know how well they do in these weather conditions). Especially of the Junction. But maybe also of that drop. :)
Yup agreed. We had only just got the drone at this stage so were a tad nervous. Plus it was very wet!
A very interesting place but even in its heyday I can't understand why it was so big as it only had one branch line to interchange with, I hope one day we will see rails again as part of the new Waverley route and the Hexham line reinstated to Kielder Forrest as a heritage railway, but I think that bit is a dream too far.
You've literally just hit the nail on the head as to thw question.... why did the railways fail from the 1940's onwards.
You need macs!
Haha.... Yes!
Poor Becky .. don't think she was too happy going here .. and she got her hair wet give her a brolly next time lol 😝
That's liquid sunshine not rain,
I've also found this short video made by a group of Scottish lads in 2016- well worth a watch czcams.com/video/1LIatE3bjZ8/video.html