Talla Railway

The Talla Railway was a privately constructed railway line in southern Scotland. It was built in 1895 - 1897 to aid the construction of the Talla Reservoir, to serve the water demand of Edinburgh. The railway was about eight miles long, running south from a connection with the Caledonian Railway's Peebles branch at Broughton. A private passenger service was operated for workmen on the reservoir construction.

The reservoir was inaugurated in 1905 and the railway was lifted.

Starting from Caledonian Railway metals at Rachan Junction, near Broughton station (originally part of the Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway's network), the railway followed the route of the River Tweed and what is now the A701 closely for 8 miles (13 km) in a southerly direction. It extended to Victoria Lodge, the headquarters for the dam's construction. An intermediate stop with wooden platforms was later established at Crook Halt, to serve the Crook Inn.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, urban development and changing domestic habits substantially increased the demand for water in Edinburgh and other conurbations. In 1894 the Edinburgh and District Water Trust selected the valley of the Talla Water near Tweedsmuir, in the Scottish Borders, to create a new reservoir: it became the Talla Reservoir. The exceptionally high rainfall in the district made the location attractive. The water surface is 950 feet (290 m) above sea level, and the water was to be piped 35 miles (56 km) to Alnwickhill in Edinburgh. The land belonged to Sir Graham Graham-Montgomery, and was purchased from him for £20,425.

The location of the proposed reservoir was remote and large quantities of construction materials would be required to construct the earth dam. The Water Trust decided to construct a private railway for the purpose: the Talla Railway. The Peebles branch of the Caledonian Railway (which had been built as the Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway) ran west to east through Broughton, and the Trust negotiated with the Caledonian Railway over a private branch line connection. This was agreed in April 1895. The private railway would run southwards for about eight miles (13 km) along the valley of the River Tweed from a location somewhat east of Broughton station. The Caledonian agreed to lay a second track, at the expense of the Water Trust, alongside its own single line from Broughton station to the point of divergence of the new railway. At first a northwards branch line at Broughton was planned to extract clay for sealing the reservoir, but this was later changed, and the material was imported from elsewhere.

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