Edinburgh`s Royal Mile

Borders Railway  Edinburgh  to the Scottish Border country in less than a hour.
The Borders Railway will link Edinburgh City Centre and the Borders for the first time since 1969. Passenger services will commence on Sunday 6 September 2015.

June 13th 2015 
Madge Elliot Road trip ----New Borders Railway project.
The route of the new Borders Railway.
It`s going to open up the Borders region of Scotland. It will be so much easier to visit the towns of Southern Scotland. Plus gives the Borderers a chance to visit the capital. 
This is a wonderful engineering feat. Something the whole of Scotland can be proud of.
I`m really looking forward to finding out more about the Borders Railway and the whole area.

Gee Bee is the Driver and Dee Bee is on images and video.
Leave Clydebank 8.00

Waverley station concourse

1 Edinburgh Waverley Station-- Right in the Centre of Scotland`s capital city. First stop on a long day.
The second-largest main line railway station in the Great Briton in terms of size.Second busiest railway station in Scotland after Glasgow Central. Always enjoy visiting Waverley.
Walking up the famous Waverley steps on Princes Street. The premier shopping street in Edinburgh.

2 Brunstane  is a southeastern suburb of Edinburgh. Week days there is generally a 30mins service in each direction, towards Edinburgh northbound and Newcraighall south. One hour evening and Sunday service. So this not a new station for the Border Railway route.

3 Newcraighall A former mining village, its prosperity was based on the Midlothian coalfields and in particular the now closed Monktonhall pit. Newcraighall now plays host to an out of town shopping complex known as The Fort or Kinnaird Park.

4 Shawfair     
This was hardest station to find. The local hotel did have a clue about the new station.
We noticed new house we headed down there. Good idea.  
A £200 million project to build Scotland’s first new town in half a century, with more than 4,000 new homes along with shops and schools.

5 Eskbank----  Eskbank railway station is a new station serving the Eskbank area of the town of Dalkeith.  Also close to the town of Bonnyrigg.The original Eskbank station was previously closed (along with the Waverley Line) in 1969.

 Did you know there are 4 Stations in Midlothian

• Shawfair Station will serve the planned settlement of Shawfair between Danderhall and Millerhill
• Eskbank Station will be between the TESCO Eskbank superstore, Jewel and Esk College, and close to the new Community Hospital
• Newtongrange Station will be just off the A7 north of the Scottish Mining Museum but south of the turn-off to Orchard Grange
• Gorebridge Station will be on Station Road between Main Street and Lady Brae

6 Newtongrange  Newtongrange is a former mining village in Midlothian, situated 3 miles south of Dalkeith.

7 Gorebridge   Gorebridge is a post town and former mining village in Midlothian, Scotland. The village gets its name from the bridge across the River Gore, a tributary of the South Esk. It was the home of Scotland's first gunpowder mill, at the Gore Water, that started operating in 1794.

8 Stow  It will be the nearest station to the town of Lauder. This a new station.

New Scottishborders ticket prices  
Edinburgh to Tweedbank Single fare -
 £10 Peak return 
 £16 Off-peak return 
 £11.20 Seven day season £64.00

9 Galashiels Gis a burgh in Selkirkshire on the Gala Water river. The name is often shortened to "Gala" .Galashiels is a major commercial centre for the Borders region. The town is known for textile making.

10 Tweedbank Tweedbank south-east of Galashiels .Tweedbank, as the name suggests, sits adjacent to the River Tweed, and approximately 500 metres down river from our base for the night-- Abbotsford House, the historic home of the famous writer Sir Walter Scott. 

Abbotsford House

This roadtrip is named after Borders Railway campaigner Madge Elliot 
The 86-year-old from Hawick has campaigned for nearly 50 years to see the train line reopened. Sad it does not reach the local town of Madge.

 Founded in 1136, Melrose Abbey is amongst the most iconic of Scotland’s ruins. 

Spent an enjoyable evening in the Ship inn Melrose. Watched the football then a live band.

Big thanks to Gee Bee my driver for the weekend.Great fun 
This was a Scotlanders project----Supporting Scottish Tourism  
Did you know --- The Scotland/England border is just under 110 miles long.