Waggonway Tranent – ​​Cockenzie

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Hill Top Colliery
Waggonway Tranent – ​​Cockenzie around 1840 on an engraving by John Gellatly
Waggonway Tranent – ​​Cockenzie around 1840
on an engraving by John Gellatly
Section of the Waggonway Tranent – ​​Cockenzie
Route from around 1840
on an engraving by John Gellatly
Route length: 4 km
Gauge : 3 feet 3 inches = 991 mm

The Waggonway Tranent-Cockenzie was probably the first horse - light railway in Scotland. Built in 1722 with wooden rails, the 4 km long 3 foot 3 inch (991 mm) track connected the coal mines at Tranent with the Cockenzie salt flats and Port Seton harbor . The Battle of Prestonpans was fought along the route in 1745 . The line was modernized in 1815 with cast-iron fish belly rails and from 1846 connected to the new main line of the North British Railway . Part of the line was in operation until 1968.

history

In the 18th century, salt production on the banks of the Firth of Forth was of great importance. For this purpose, salt water was evaporated in salt pans. At first it was still possible to mine the coal required in considerable quantities near the salt pans, but after the nearby deposits were exhausted, the coal had to be brought in from a greater distance.

The Großgutbesitzer Earl of Winton supported the Jacobite Rising of 1715 the old pretender ( The Old Pretender ) James Francis Edward Stuart (also called the James III.), And therefore his goods fell the crown. They were acquired by the York Buildings Company in London in 1719. After a series of financial speculations, the company became the largest company in Scotland. However, due to the difficult communication these days, he found it difficult to run the company. The problem was solved by renting out local businesses, which provided incentives to improve their inventory. This led to improvements in the port of Port Seton.

In 1745, during the Jacobite Rising of 1745, the railway was the site of the Battle of Prestonpan. As the forces of Charles Edward Stuart (also known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie") advanced south, they were drawn into battle by the opposing forces of General Sir John Cope . On September 20, 1745, Cope's troops and artillery marched along the wagon route. Dendy Marshall describes how they used the embankment as cover. With a clearly superior force, Bonnie Prince Charlie broke the lines of the Cope forces and caused them to flee.

Routing

Route

The wagonway connected the harbor with the salt pans in Cockenzie and the coal mines in Tranent. Title deeds for New Street in Cockenzie describe the route of the wooden wagonway that led through the city to the port of Port Seton. The cost of all the work was £ 3500 and it was completed in 1722. This original wooden train followed a route along what is now School Lane in Cockenzie before heading east along High Street to Port Seton Harbor. The later railroad followed a different route in Cockenzie and led to the western port of Cockenzie. In 2017, volunteer archaeologists discovered a salt house, a wooden sleeper and some stone support blocks and presented their findings to more than 1000 visitors. In September 2018 they found an intact turntable ring, a salt pan tube, remains of a tilting mechanism, a 2.4 m deep loading bay and datable ceramics from the 1600s.

The line was single-track with two alternative places. It was laid in such a way that it always had a slight incline towards the sea, although this required the construction of a considerable embankment so that loaded trains could be driven down by gravity in places, braked by the force of gravity, and horses only for the return transport of the empty wagons were required. At least initially, horses were still used to transport the wagons in both directions. It is not known whether gravity was sufficient to make the stiff wagons go down, which was only possible at a later point in time. Even taking into account the changes in the landscape, a review of the route today shows that the route from the coal mines to the sea, in contrast to its surroundings, slopes only slightly and even leads uphill on Meadowhill.

dare

Replica of a coal wagon on West Harbor Road, Cockenzie, 2018

Photographs of the wagons from around 1854 show that the wagons were constructed similarly to those from Shropshire and were coupled together to form short trains. Their track gauge was 3 feet 3 inches (991 mm). They could each transport a Scottish chalder (30 Hundredweights ). The ends of the wagon were removable for unloading.

Leases

The railroad facilities were leased to William Adam for £ 1,000 a year. The rent was cut in half in 1733, reflecting Adam's lack of success in making a profit. Even with this lower rent, he could not continue and gave up the lease. Other tenants also tried unsuccessfully.

The York Buildings Company was dissolved in 1777 and the former Winton winery was sold to the Cadell family in 1779. The advertisement made for the sale described that there was still an extensive coal field, no part of which had yet been removed with steam engines or other suitable machines. All the coal was a short distance from the sea. Seaton jetty and harbor were part of the property for sale, and there was a wagonway from the coal mines to the salt flats and shore.

It was pointed out that the existence of the Waggonway was to be communicated to the buyers of the second and third lot from Tranent and that no compensation would be paid for the Waggonway on the connection from Seaton to the Port of Seaton in the direction in which the coal used to be to operate on the account of the company. The lower part of the original wagonway was probably neglected by the tenant.

Metal rails

The wooden rails were dismantled in 1815 and replaced by cast iron fish belly rails. The line was still single-track with passing points. Alexander Scott described the operation in 1824 as follows:

“Mr Cadell's wagons travel from his coal mines in Tranent Moor to Cockenzie at a distance of 4097 meters (4480 yards) on a cast iron railroad that has various slopes and arcs of curves. All that is needed is the help of one man on the downhill drive to manage several of the car's brakes. The horse train track is 3 feet 3 inches; The loaded wagons including their wagons weigh about two tons each. A horse sometimes pulls five empty wagons, but the usual number is four, and this it usually pulls three times a day. "

renewal

The Waggonway at Cockenzie Harbor in the background in a photo by Sir Robert Cadell, 1854

In 1833, the Cockenzie harbor was significantly rebuilt by civil engineer Robert Stevenson . It was around this time that the Waggonway was extended south to the Coal Mines at Windygoul.

In 1844 the North British Railway was granted the concession to build its main line from Edinburgh to Berwick . This was opened in 1846 and crossed the stretch of the Waggonway under a bridge.

Reloading facilities on the main line

Also in 1846, the North British Railway was approved by an Act of Parliament to build a branch line from Bankton on its main line to the west via Tranent to Windygoul. This branch line was opened in 1849. Their rails were probably replaced by wrought iron rails as early as the 1850s.

Cadell was able to transport his coal cheaper than before on the newly built main line. Because of the different gauges, his wagons could not be used on the North British Railway. He therefore laid transshipment tracks in both Meadowmill and Windygoul. The transport of coal by coastal shipping from Cockenzie Harbor then declined, and the lower part of the wagonway north of the transhipment point to the North British Railway in Meadowmill was soon shut down and later dismantled. However, the upper part continued to flourish, transporting the coal from Tranent to the main line for another 30 years.

Re-gauging

Around 1880 the coal merchant James Waldie took over the lease of the mines in Tranent and the Waggonway. The Waggonway became a steam-operated locomotives standard gauge railway umgespurt and connected to the North British Railway in Meadowmill. At that time, Cockenzie Harbor was no longer used often because larger ships could not moor there. In Meadowmill, however, the transshipment track was still in operation at times, through which the contents of the wagons were mostly tipped into the standard-gauge wagons for onward transport to Leith .

Twenty years later, James Waldie and the other leading coal mine operators in EastLothian merged to form Edinburgh Collieries Co. Ltd. together. The railway line, which was partly on the route of the previous wagon, was extended to Fleets Colliery. The narrow-gauge wagonway was therefore finally dismantled around 1896. The use of the route for the standard gauge railway continued until the closure of the Fleets Colliery in 1959.

Above Meadowmill, part of the route of the original wagonway was used as a siding for coal wagons of the National Coal Board in the 1960s. This part of the route was therefore used for rail traffic for about 240 years.

present

Route of the wagonway at Tranent Church

The route of the original wagonway can still be seen in places. Part of it is used as a public path by hikers, cyclists and horse riders.

There is a residential street in Tranent called The Waggonway (zip code: EH33 2QY). This is not on the line of the Tranent and Cockenzie lines, but in the extension near the Windygoul pit.

In 2017, in Cockenzie Harbor, volunteer archaeologists from the 1722 Waggonway Heritage Group discovered stone blocks of fish belly rails that were used instead of sleepers. The group has set itself the task of researching the route as well as preserving it as a historical heritage and making it known. A mobile app, explanation boards and signposting are available to inform and educate hikers.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b M JT Lewis, Early Wooden Railways , Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1970, ISBN 0-7100-7818-8 . S 255 (quote: "The traditional date of 1722 is probably correct: it was certainly before 1736.")
  2. ↑ a b c d e f George Dott, Early Scottish Wagonways , St Margaret's Technical Press Limited, London, 1947
  3. ^ The Inventory of Historic Battlefields - Battle of Prestonpans.
  4. ^ A b c d C F Dendy Marshall, A History of British Railways Down to the Year 1830 , Oxford University Press, London, 1938
  5. ^ A b c d M J Worling, Early Railways of the Lothians , Midlothian District Libraries, 1991, ISBN 0-9511915-6-X .
  6. ↑ Modern map.
  7. ↑ a b Big Dig 2017.
  8. ↑ Big Dig 2018.
  9. ↑ Big Dig 2018, Day 4.
  10. ↑ Big Dig 2018 Day 7 (part 1).
  11. ^ A b C. JA Robertson, The Origins of the Scottish Railway System, 1722-1844 , John Donald Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh, 1983, ISBN 0-85976-088-X .
  12. ↑ Worling, page 11.
  13. ↑ General Robert Cadell's 1854 photos of wagons in Cockenzie Harbor are some of the earliest photographs of a railroad or freight car in existence. They are archived in the Cockenzie House.
  14. ↑ Lewis, pp. 267-270.
  15. ↑ Caledonian Mercury: December 19, 1778.
  16. ↑ Edinburgh Courant, December 23, 1778, quoted by Worling
  17. ^ Bertram Baxter, Stone Blocks and Iron Rails , David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1966
  18. ↑ Alexander Scott, Mr Scott's Account of Inclined Planes , in Essays on Railroads, in Transactions of the Highland Society of Scotland, Volume VI , Edinburgh, 1824
  19. ↑ John R. Hume: TraNET, Cockenzie Wagon Way View showing remains of bridge.

Coordinates: 55 ° 58 '10.4 "  N , 2 ° 57' 53.1"  W.