74-594: South Line may refer to: Glasgow South Western Line , Scotland Main South Line , New Zealand Østfold Line , Norway PNR South Main Line , Philippines Sounder South Line , Washington, United States South Eastern Main Line , England South-Link Line , Taiwan South Line, Chennai Suburban , India Main Southern railway line, New South Wales , Australia South Line,
148-531: A constituent of the new London and North Eastern Railway . Early railways in Scotland had been mainly involved with conveyance of minerals, chiefly coal and limestone in the earliest times, a short distance to a river or coastal harbour for onward transport. The opening of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR) in 1842 showed that a longer distance general purpose railway could be commercially successful. During
222-630: A cramped site close to the North Bridge, and the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway extended their line from their terminus at Haymarket to meet the NBR. The new station was operated jointly, and was simply called "the Edinburgh station" or "the North Bridge station". It also came to be referred to as "the General station", and much later it was named " Waverley station ". The English railway entrepreneur George Hudson
296-580: A dividend of 2.5%. In April 1856, the independent Selkirk and Galashiels Railway opened its line, to be worked by the NBR; this was followed in July 1856 by the Jedburgh Railway , connecting with the NBR at Roxburgh and also worked by the NBR. The Selkirk line was absorbed by the NBR in 1859, and the Jedburgh Railway in 1860. Hodgson reiterated Learmonth's statement that extending from Hawick to Carlisle
370-557: A former passenger line in Sydney, Australia, now split into: Inner West & Leppington Line Airport & South Line South West Main Line , England South West Line, Chennai Suburban , India West South Line, Chennai Suburban , India South Line, Tasmania , Australia See also [ edit ] North–South line (disambiguation) South Western Line (disambiguation) Southern Line (disambiguation) Southern Railway (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
444-478: A notice, stating the intention to make a 5.5% preference share issue in the amount of £1,875,625 (equivalent to £219,477,900 in 2023), covering all the financial liabilities of the company. On 22 December the Glasgow Herald carried an eight-line report that the interim chairman had stood down, and that John Stirling of Kippendavie had been appointed chairman. Amid the fireworks of railway management, in 1866
518-432: A roughly 2 hourly service for most of the day, There is 2 trains per hour between Glasgow and East Kilbride 7 days a week with extra trains during peak times. There is also a regular hourly service between Ayr and Girvan with 8 trains per day extending south to Stranraer with a 2 hourly service to/from Kilmarnock, On Sundays, 5 trains per day operate from Ayr to Stranraer however there is no service to/from Kilmarnock. Before
592-400: A shareholders meeting in 1851 it was pointed out that when the company's network had been 89 miles in extent revenue had been £39,304. Now the network was 146 miles and revenue was £39,967 (equivalent to £5,527,460 in 2023). Huge sums were being written off in failed ventures, while equally huge sums were being sought for new ones. Some shareholders remembered George Hudson's offer of 8% for
666-580: A through rail service without change of train via Carstairs since March 1848. The fastest trains between Edinburgh and London on both routes then took a little over 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours; the East Coast journey included the two transshipments, at the Tweed and the Tyne. and the cheaper steamship service between Leith and London still took the bulk of the passenger traffic. Mineral traffic, in particular coal from
740-458: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Glasgow South Western Line The Glasgow South Western Line is a mainline railway in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Kilmarnock , and then either Carlisle via Dumfries , or Stranraer via Ayr , with a branch to East Kilbride . The line was built by several railway companies during
814-591: The North British Railway Act 1844 ( 7 & 8 Vict. c. lxvi). The Newcastle and Berwick Railway was building its line, and in time they would form part of a through chain of railways between Edinburgh and London. This had been a race against competing railways: the main competitor was the Caledonian Railway , which planned to build from both Edinburgh and Glasgow to Carlisle, there linking with English railways that were building northwards. However
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#1732845429165888-739: The Ayrshire Coast Line . There are also a number of through services between Glasgow & Stranraer that run direct via Paisley & Kilwinning (others run via Kilmarnock, as do certain trains to/from Girvan ). From the December 2015 timetable change, new Scotrail franchisee Abellio changed the schedule on the Stranraer line—the service frequency to/from Ayr has increased from six trains each way to eight on weekdays (and from three to five on Sundays), but there are now no longer any direct trains to Glasgow via Paisley—all services now run via Kilmarnock. In
962-745: The Border Union Railway ) and the act of Parliament permitting the acquisition of the Carlisle minor railways received royal assent. On the same day the Border Counties Railway was authorised; it had been supported by Hodgson, who saw access to Newcastle independently of the North Eastern Railway . It was absorbed by the NBR in 1860. The construction of the Border Union Railway was slow; goods operation from Carlisle to Scotch Dyke, not far from Longtown, started on 11 October 1861, and
1036-565: The City of Glasgow Union Railway were eased. (At one time there had been thoughts of the NBR using a considerably expanded terminus on the line in alliance with the Glasgow and South Western Railway , but the cost would have been huge and it was not now possible to proceed. The Shareholders' Meeting of 12 September 1867 was told that arrangements had been made to deal with the £1,875,625 (equivalent to £209,777,300 in 2023) of debt already identified; but
1110-687: The Lothian coalfield, was the largest source of revenue, although delivery to the West Coast harbours and the developing iron smelting industry in the Monklands was problematical. The Chairman of the North British Railway was John Learmonth. From the outset he had seen that expansion of the North British Railway was the way forward, and with allies on the Board he had invested heavily, both personally and through
1184-603: The P&;O Ferries service to Larne Harbour . North British Railway The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh , Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followed a policy of expanding its geographical area, and competing with the Caledonian Railway in particular. In doing so it committed huge sums of money, and incurred shareholder disapproval that resulted in two chairmen leaving
1258-654: The Scottish Region of British Railways . During the Beeching Axe in the 1960s many of the railway's branch lines were closed, including the direct route between Dumfries and Stranraer, via Galloway on the Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway and Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway , leaving the present Y-shaped railway. The former G&SWR terminus at Glasgow St Enoch was also closed in this period (in 1966), with all services rerouted into Glasgow Central . During
1332-575: The Settle and Carlisle line in 1875 (for goods: passenger traffic started in 1876), that the North British had a willing English partner at Carlisle. After two years of construction, the Berwickshire Railway opened part of its line from St Boswells to Dunse (later spelt Duns) in 1865. The line was worked by the NBR and formed a continuous route with the earlier Dunse branch. The Berwickshire Railway
1406-570: The 1845 session, the Caledonian Railway was authorised. The Caledonian was to prove a bitter rival. The Edinburgh and Perth Railway failed to get parliamentary authorisation. The line to Hawick was to use the route of the obsolescent Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway , a horse-operated line with a non-standard gauge of sleeper-block track, and a large sum had to be allocated to converting that line to main line standards. All these plans for expansion were committing huge sums of money even before
1480-415: The 1970s, most of the intermediate stations between Kilmarnock and Carlisle were closed, leaving only Kirkconnel , Dumfries and Annan . Since then, the stations at New Cumnock , Auchinleck , Sanquhar and Gretna Green have been reopened. There have been several studies recently as to the possibility of reopening Thornhill station , roughly halfway between Dumfries and Sanquhar . As of 2020,
1554-515: The 19th century: The Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway and the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway amalgamated to form the Glasgow and South Western Railway in 1850. The Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilston Direct Railway and Glasgow and Kilmarnock Joint Railway were amalgamated to form the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway jointly operated by the Glasgow and South Western Railway and Caledonian Railway . The lines forming
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#17328454291651628-558: The Annan to Gretna section was completed in August 2008, controlled from Dumfries Station signal box. In early 2009, work commenced to re-double the line between Lugton and Stewarton based on the 2008 plans published by Network Rail. Completed in September 2009, this allows ScotRail to run a half-hourly service between Glasgow and Kilmarnock. In December 2023, electrification of the first section of
1702-495: The Caledonian was unable to secure enough subscriptions to present a bill to Parliament in 1844 and held over to the following year. The chairman of the North British Railway, John Learmonth, saw that capturing as much territory as possible for the North British was essential in the competitive struggle. He prepared plans to build a second main line from Edinburgh to Carlisle through Hawick , and also attempted to gain control of
1776-627: The Dalkeith line connections around Edinburgh were made, including feeding the Leith line and the Musselburgh line directly from the main line at Portobello and Wanton Walls respectively. From July 1861, the Peebles Railway line was leased. In 1862, a greater prize was acquired: the Edinburgh and Northern Railway had expanded from its origins and now, as the Edinburgh, Perth And Dundee Railway, it connected
1850-630: The East Kilbride branch were operated by the Caledonian Railway. Until 1923 the line via Dumfries was in competition with the North British Railway and Caledonian Railway as one of the mainlines into Scotland . With the passing of the Railways Act 1921 ( Grouping Act ) the line became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). In 1948, with nationalisation the line became part of
1924-578: The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and the Monkland Railways, and the following day the merged company was absorbed by the North British. Although some commentators had expected that the E&;GR might have absorbed the NBR, the reality was that the new board consisted of 13 former NBR directors and two E&G men. The NBR habitually ran trains on Sundays and started doing so on the E&GR main line, which had not. This ignited fresh protests from Sabbatarians but
1998-461: The Edinburgh and Perth Railway company, which was itself preparing plans for its line. In the 1845 session of Parliament Learmonth secured authorising acts of Parliament for numerous branch lines, mostly to forestall incursion by competitors. In addition, the first part of the line to Carlisle, the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway, was authorised: it was nominally independent, but in fact the shares were all owned by Learmonth and other NBR directors. Also in
2072-573: The May 2022 timetable change, there were some services that continued past Carlisle, continuing to Newcastle along the Tyne Valley Line . The service from Stranraer to Newcastle was withdrawn in 2009. Scotrail service to Newcastle was withdrawn as part of the May 2022 timetable change (therefore leaving Carlisle as the only station in England to be served by Scotrail.) The Glasgow South Western Line links into
2146-633: The NBR stuck to its position on the matter. As well as the railways mentioned, the merger gave the North British a share of the City of Glasgow Union Railway which was then under construction. When complete, that line would give the North British access shipping berths on the Clyde at General Terminus over the General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway . The NBR grew to have, by the summer of 1865, about 450 mi (720 km) of route, almost equally divided between double- and single-track. In addition it
2220-429: The North British Railway shareholders on the advice of their chairman. Parliament had declined to authorised the NBR line throughout to Carlisle, and for the time being Hawick was to be the southern terminus, although the plan to construct to Carlisle later was made manifest. As the Edinburgh end was to use the old Edinburgh and Dalkeith alignment, some connections between the NBR and that line had to be made, as well as
2294-574: The Smith-Barlow Commission, deliberated for some time and presented an ambiguous report, and public opinion had moved on: numerous schemes for railways were proposed, not all of them practicable. During this frenzy, a group of businesspeople formed the North British Railway Company to build a line from Edinburgh to Berwick (later named Berwick-on-Tweed with a branch to Haddington . They got their authorising act of Parliament,
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2368-418: The accommodation of particular districts, so that it will in a great measure rest with the local interests, whether or not such works shall be immediately proceeded with. Building on the improved relations with the Caledonian, Kippendavie reached a revenue sharing arrangement with that company on 16 January 1868; the agreement included refrain from opposing time extension on NBR projects that had been delayed by
2442-445: The accounts from year to year so as to show to the shareholders and divide among them a revenue which was not in existence and was known not to have been earned; but it was a careful and most ingenious fabrication of imaginary accounts, begun and carried on from time to time for the purpose of supporting the falsified half yearly statements of revenue and the general misrepresentation of affairs The board resigned, only four remaining for
2516-509: The board, and operating expenses were down to 44%. At a special shareholders' meeting on 15 July 1856 he announced that the company's money bill, the North British Railway (Finance and Bridge) Act 1856 ( 19 & 20 Vict. c. lxiii), had been passed, enabling the company to issue shares and to pay down debt with the money raised: he announced, somewhat prematurely, that the company was free from debt. The Ordinary Shareholders would get
2590-625: The company are under obligations to construct new lines, involving a further amount of £2,600,000. It s essential to limit this liability... but [the Directors] do not consider an indiscriminate abandonment of works to be desirable. Accordingly provision is made in the Finance Act for constituting certain of the unexpected works into separate undertakings... It is to local parties that the Directors look for subscriptions to construct branch lines, required for
2664-521: The company in 1847, which had been refused. It was noted that the Caledonian Railway was equally determined to enlarge its system, but was doing so by leasing smaller companies, avoiding a large payment at the beginning. In early 1852, a new preference share issue failed, and at the Shareholders' meeting in March two directors resigned, and Learmonth was forced to declare that he too would go in due course. This
2738-420: The company, in subscriptions to other railways. In some cases this was to extend the system profitably, but in many it was simply to keep rival lines, especially the Caledonian Railway, out. For some time shareholder opinion was with him, but over time disquiet took hold when the scale of the commitments was disclosed. In 1851, North British Railway £25 shares were trading at £6 (equivalent to £830 in 2023). At
2812-613: The company. Nonetheless, the company successfully reached Carlisle, where it later made a partnership with the Midland Railway . It also linked from Edinburgh to Perth and Dundee, but for many years the journey involved a ferry crossing of the Forth and the Tay. Eventually the North British built the Tay Bridge , but the structure collapsed as a train was crossing in high wind. The company survived
2886-423: The construction of the E&GR, the money market had eased somewhat and a rapid development of long-distance railways took place in England. Scottish promoters began to consider how central Scotland could be connected to the growing English network, and a government commission was established to determine the approved route. It was assumed for some time that only a single route was commercially viable. The commission,
2960-507: The electrification of the West Coast Main Line in the early 1970s by British Rail , the line was used as a major diversionary route whilst the Caledonian Railway's Annandale/Clydesdale route was closed, particularly during the weekends. Following completion of this project, the sections of line between Barrhead and Kilmarnock (with a crossing loop at Lugton) and Annan and Gretna (controlled from Carlisle) were singled. Re-doubling of
3034-499: The entire line was opened for goods trains on 23 June 1862 and for passengers on 1 July 1862. The Border Counties Railway opened throughout on the same dates. The Border Counties joined the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway (N&CR) at Hexham. The North Eastern Railway wished to absorb the N&;CR, and the NBR agreed to withdraw its opposition in an exchange of running powers. The NBR acquired
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3108-517: The ferries at Stranraer via the bus connecting with Cairnryan for the Stena Line ferries to the Port of Belfast and the P&O Ferries to Larne Harbour . The Stena Line ships (previously Sealink) ran from Stranraer Harbour until 2011. A bus connection to Cairnryan is also now provided from Ayr . Onward rail connections are provided by Northern Ireland Railways . The line also connected Troon to
3182-454: The finance committee to the true state of the NBR's finances. A new preference share issue had flopped, and it proved impossible to pay debenture interest and preference share guaranteed dividends. Evidently it was intended to pay the dividend out of new capital; North British ordinary shares fell overnight by 8% after this revelation. Widespread financial impropriety and falsification of accounts were disclosed, all laid at Hodgson's door, and this
3256-479: The financial turmoil. By 1869, the Caledonian and the NBR were once again at loggerheads; the main issue now was the Waverley Route, and the proportion of traffic attributable to it. It emerged that the Caledonian had secretly concluded a pact with the London and North Western Railway in 1867; the arrangement excluded the North British from nearly all goods traffic, and its revelation damaged good feeling: indeed
3330-525: The following stations. In the latter years of British Rail , operations were sectorised. All Scottish operations (excluding the WCML and ECML services), including this line, became part of the Regional Railways operation – being branded as ScotRail . Following privatisation , passenger services upon the line were taken over by ScotRail , (part of National Express ), and are now operated by ScotRail with
3404-643: The full opening of the Border Union Railway, passenger trains had terminated at the Canal station of the Port Carlisle Railway. By 1864 the line was double track throughout and from 1 July 1864 the passenger trains were diverted over the Caledonian Railway connecting line, to terminate in Citadel station. The financial position was somewhat better and a 2% dividend on ordinary shares was announced in August. There
3478-504: The line between Glasgow Central and Barrhead was completed (services started on 11 December 2023 using Class 380 electric trains ). Further work is currently underway to re-double and electrify the branch line from Thornliebank to East Kilbride. With the exception of the electrified section between Glasgow Central and Barrhead, all other services on the line are operated using the British Rail Class 156 diesel trains. Trains serve
3552-647: The line has many different service patterns depending on its lines, From Glasgow, There is 2 trains per hour to Kilmarnock(12 of these extend south of Kilmarnock with 11 to Dumfries and 9 of which continue to Carlisle while 1 only goes as far as New Cumnock while 4 (3 on Saturdays) trains per day operate to Stranraer and 1 train per day terminates at Girvan), There is a regular hourly service between Dumfries and Carlisle on Monday to Saturdays, On Sundays, An hourly service operates to Kilmarnock however only 2 trains per day operate south to Dumfries and Carlisle, 5 trains per day also operate between Dumfries and Carlisle on Sundays on
3626-470: The line is much used as both a diversionary route, especially during the recent West Coast Main Line modernisation, and for freight, notably coal from the several open cast coalmines of the Ayrshire Coalfield that adjoin the line. Between Glasgow Central , Gretna Green and Girvan the line is operated by ScotRail . Electric train services are also provided between Glasgow and Troon and Ayr via
3700-547: The main line was ready. At last on 22 June 1846 the line to Berwick and Haddington was open to the public. There were five trains daily, with an additional ten short journeys between Edinburgh and Musselburgh . A Sunday service was operated, in the face of considerable opposition from those of a religious point of view. At first the Newcastle and Berwick Railway was not ready, and passengers and goods to London had to be conveyed by road from Berwick to Newcastle. From 1 July 1847 it
3774-469: The main line. Hodgson's faith in the Carlisle connection was equally ill-founded; facilities for through bookings and working south of Carlisle were refused. The capital commitment again swamped the financial resources of the company and the dividend sank to 1%. The Border Union Line, which soon became known as the Waverley Route opened in stages from 1861, opening throughout on 1 August 1862. There
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#17328454291653848-434: The merging of several of the old "coal railways" operating around Airdrie and Coatbridge . Their main business was still mineral traffic, and although their operating costs were high, they made a comfortable profit. On 4 July 1865, an act of Parliament, the Edinburgh and Glasgow and Monkland Railways Amalgamation Act 1865 ( 28 & 29 Vict. c. ccxvii) was passed authorising the merger and it took place on 31 July between
3922-587: The moribund Port Carlisle Dock and Railway Company and the Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway and Dock Company . These lines had a Carlisle station, a connecting line to the Caledonian Railway at Carlisle Citadel station, and a west coast port, at Silloth. On 21 July 1859 the act of Parliament, the Border Union (North British) Railways Act 1859 ( 22 & 23 Vict. c. xxiv), for the Carlisle Extension (now labelled
3996-593: The new line from Monktonhall to Dalkeith via Smeaton opened, as did the Blane Valley Railway . Passenger services on the latter did not start until 1867, in common with the opening of the Esk Valle Railway . The company now sought to grow revenues on the existing network. A rapprochement was reached with the Caledonian Railway—Kippendavie came from that railway's Board—and commitments to
4070-510: The permanent bridges were inaugurated, by Queen Victoria , although some working over temporary structures had already taken place. The station at Edinburgh was located in a depression between the Old and New Towns; this had early been a disreputable and insanitary swamp called the Nor' Loch, although steps had been taken to provide ornamental gardens on part of the area. The North British Railway obtained
4144-673: The places in its title, albeit with a ferry crossing of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay . The EP&DR also had a branch from Stirling to Dunfermline, through highly productive coalfields, and it had already absorbed the Fife and Kinross Railway and the Kinross-shire Railway . In the same year the North British absorbed the West of Fife Railway and Harbour Company , giving further access to mineral-bearing areas and to Charlestown Harbour. Since
4218-410: The powers over the BCR line into Newcastle. This seemed a hugely important goal, although the route over the two Borders lines was long and arduous. The exchange was that the NER got running powers from Berwick to Edinburgh. If Hodgson believed that this was an equitable exchange, he was soon rid of the belief, for the NER was now able to run through line goods and passenger trains right in to Edinburgh on
4292-407: The sake of continuity, and the previous statement of accounts and the declared dividend were reversed. No dividend was paid and warrants bearing 4% interest "until paid" were issued in their place, The meeting was naturally lengthy and at times stormy; a verbatim report occupied two and a half pages of the Glasgow Herald the next day. On 12 December 1866, the interim Chairman of the Company published
4366-417: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title South Line . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=South_Line&oldid=1220908067 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
4440-435: The setback and opened a second Tay Bridge, followed soon by the Forth Bridge , which together transformed the railway network north of Edinburgh. Early on, mineral traffic became dominant and brought in much more revenue than the passenger services. At the grouping of the railways in 1923, the North British Railway was the largest railway company in Scotland, and the fifth largest in the United Kingdom. In that year it became
4514-417: The track and signalling being operated (nationally) by Network Rail . Although the Dumfries route is officially one of only three railway lines between England and the Scottish lowland areas, (The others being the East Coast Main Line and West Coast Main Line ) the line joins the West Coast Main Line immediately north of the Anglo-Scottish border at Gretna Junction. Along with the Settle-Carlisle Railway ,
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#17328454291654588-428: The upgrading of the E&DR line, doubling the single line section beyond Dalkeith , and construction of a new viaduct over the River South Esk and Dalhousie. After the NBR had formally purchased the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway, first openings took place in 1847 but it was not until 1 November 1849 that the line was open throughout to Hawick. For the time being Learmonth's objective of a line reaching Carlisle, which
4662-416: Was a competing Caledonian Railway Bill. Hodgson used the mutual rebuff to try to form an alliance with the Caledonian, building and operating the line jointly. His objective was obviously to achieve access through Carlisle southwards, but the Caledonian saw through that and turned him down. The NBR presented a fresh bill for the Carlisle line in the 1859 session. Hodgson had agreed a takeover arrangement with
4736-403: Was a priority. The water was muddied by the Caledonian Railway's stated intention to build its own branch from Carlisle to Hawick, and then by the independent Border Counties Railway . This was a speculative line from Hexham, on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway , striking north into presumed mineral-rich areas. It was authorised in 1854, and opened as far as Chollerford in 1858; its significance
4810-400: Was expanding his portfolio of railways and in 1847 his York and Newcastle Railway and the Newcastle and Berwick Railway were close to completing the English portion of a route from London to Edinburgh. Hudson made an offer to purchase the North British Railway (through the medium of his own companies) for 8% on the NBR capital. Hudson's offer placed a high value on the NBR, but it was rejected by
4884-412: Was hardly a tenable position and on 13 May 1852 he resigned. James Balfour took over, but Balfour was not well suited to the role and he had little influence on the course of the North British. He too left the company, and in 1855 Richard Hodgson took over. His task was formidable; no dividend was paid to ordinary shareholders for some time. By September 1856, Hodgson had routed an opposing faction on
4958-495: Was heavily supported by the NBR, probably as a strategic measure to keep the Caledonian Railway out of the district. The NBR absorbed it in 1876. Due to Hodgson's improved management in the period to 1862, the financial position was greatly improved. Dividends on ordinary shares up to 3% became regular. Geographical expansion was limited to funding the Parliamentary deposits of prospective friendly branch line companies, with provisional agreements to work their lines. Some changes to
5032-408: Was later to become the Waverley Route , was on hold. The NBR obtained Parliamentary authority in 1846 to build numerous branches off its main line and off the Hawick line. Not all of these were built, but in addition to the Haddington branch, which had opened contemporaneously with the main line, several were opened in the period to 1855. These were: The Caledonian Railway had been able to offer
5106-412: Was limited intermediate population, and the Caledonian Railway frustrated attempts to arrange through workings, or even through bookings, for passengers, and goods traffic was diverted away from the NBR. The NBR made use of its fortuitous connection to Silloth to ship goods onwards, but for the time being the line was of doubtful value considering its expense. It was not until the Midland Railway completed
5180-490: Was more excitement to come: the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway had for years seemed to be on the point of joining in with the Caledonian Railway, but now it seemed that it, together with the Monkland Railways , would join the NBR. The Edinburgh and Glasgow had a considerable system, including the Stirling to Dunfermline line and the Bathgate and Morningside line; moreover it was working the Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway . The Monkland Railways had been formed in 1848 by
5254-411: Was open between Tweedmouth (opposite Berwick on the south side of the River Tweed ) and Newcastle upon Tyne. The North British Railway was able to advertise a train service from Edinburgh to London, although passengers and goods needed to be conveyed by road across the Tweed at Berwick, and across the River Tyne at Newcastle: the two river bridges were still under construction. It was not until 1850 that
5328-403: Was reported to a Special General Meeting on 14 November 1866. Hodgson did not attend; instead he sent a letter of resignation, and blamed bad headaches for preventing him from being present. John Balfour, the former chairman, took the chair for the meeting. The Committee of enquiry submitted a lengthy report, which included the statement that there had been not merely deliberate falsification of
5402-456: Was the potential to enter the area between Carlisle and Hawick: in 1857 it presented a bill to Parliament to join the Hawick line. That was not successful, but Hodgson caused the NBR shareholders to vote £450,000 (equivalent to £54,224,300 in 2023) for the Carlisle extension from Hawick; such was his power of persuasion. However the bill presented to Parliament in the 1858 session was rejected, as
5476-465: Was working another 40 mi (64 km) of single track for independent companies. In 1866, comparison with the Caledonian Railway showed that company to be in better shape: In the spring of 1866, Hodgson declared a 3% dividend on ordinary shares, but the share price continued to decline. In the Autumn of 1866 Hodgson was again proposing a dividend of 3% but a new company secretary, John Walker, alerted
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