Gifford and Garvald Railway
Former railway line in Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Gifford and Garvald Railway was a 9.25-mile-long (14.89 km) single-track branch railway line in East Lothian, Scotland, that ran from a junction west of Ormiston on the Macmerry Branch to Gifford via three intermediate stations, Pencaitland, Saltoun, and Humbie.
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Scotland |
| Successor | North British Railway |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Length | 9+1⁄4 mi (14.9 km) |
Macmerry and Gifford Lines | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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History
| Gifford and Garvald Railway Act 1891 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
.svg) | |
| Long title | An Act to incorporate the Gifford and Garvald Railway Company and to empower them to construct a Railway in the County of Haddington and for other purposes. |
| Citation | 54 & 55 Vict. c. lxxxv |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 3 July 1891 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Gifford and Garvald Railway Act 1893 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act to enable the Gifford and Garvald Railway Company to construct a Deviation Railway and for other purposes. |
| Citation | 56 & 57 Vict. c. cc |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 24 August 1893 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The line was proposed in November 1890 and the company was authorised by the Gifford and Garvald Railway Act 1891 (54 & 55 Vict. c. lxxxv) on 3 July 1891 to construct a line of 12 miles and 200 yards. Only 9.25 miles of line was completed and opened on 14 October 1901.[1] Run by the North British Railway from opening the line remained independent until 1923 when it became part of the London and North Eastern Railway. At Pencaitland, the line served the Glenkinchie distillery, and continued onward to Gifford where it terminated next to what is now the Gifford Community Woodland. The extension of the line to Garvald was never completed.
The line closed to passengers on 3 April 1933 when the Macmerry Branch withdrew its services. After a bridge collapse in August 1948 the section from Gifford to Humbie closed but the remaining line stayed open. On 2 May 1960 the line past Humbie closed to freight and the remaining line on 25 April 1965.