This ten-mile branch line left the Edinburgh to Carlisle Waverley route at Fountainhall and worked its way rather circuitously to Lauder, via the one intermediate station at Oxton. It was short-lived as a passenger experience, opening in 1901 and losing out to rival buses by 1932. Freight continued under LNER and BR until final closure in 1958.
We were with friends who were visiting members of their family
at Oxton. It turned out that the house that we were all heading for is called
Lynend, which was just the sort of clue I have become used to chasing up. I was
given further encouragement by our Ordnance Survey map of the area. The railway
passed the station master’s house, which is still in use as a private residence.
Alongside it is an ex-LNER cast iron no trespassing sign.
The formation then crossed the road via a level crossing at
the foot of the family’s driveway. Although there are no visible signs of its
exact course from here, the alignment appeared to lead us up the garden path,
quite literally, through the back garden and up a slope - suggesting a degree
of subsequent landfill - towards a gap in the trees beyond.
The admirable website, Disused Stations, filled in most of the remaining questions. Later that afternoon, we cycled part of the former track bed at the Lauder end of the line, though there is no trace now of the former terminus station. The site lies behind the petrol station and Co-op next to the A68 main road at the north end of the settlement. We made it in time for a quick browse round the lively Flat Cat café and art gallery, which - unlike the railway - was still open, but only just!
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