21-23 March 2008 - Edinburgh

Easter 2008 - a big occasion by "pointless quest" standards. Firstly, I complete my last bit of line in England. But more importantly, I make my first foray over the border into Scotland. It's been a long time coming and I'm really looking forward to it. This is not to be just a quest-related trip, but a sightseeing trip also, there being a lot to do in Edinburgh. On the spur of the moment in February I booked the tickets and a hotel for Easter, and on the morning of Good Friday, the day came.

Thanks to SE Trains' late-starting Sunday service on this day (just like last year!) I was pushing it to make the train but luckily there were no hold-ups. I got to King's Cross with about twenty minutes to spare. I noticed a non-stop charter to Edinburgh leaving just before my train. It was run by Eddie Stobart - a rake of Mk3 coaches in a blue Stobart livery were lined up waiting behind two similarly painted locos. I see a gaggle of spotters on the platform and this scene is to be repeated all along the East Coast.

The board announces that the 8.30 to Waverley is fully reserved and indeed the 225 train is rammed to bursting point when we move off. It's an uneventful journey until Newcastle for me as there's no new territory until then. We pass through a handful of stations beyond there and then we're into Northumberland. The line hugs the North Sea in a scene reminiscent of the Great Western - now a long way south from me. It's a spectacular view despite the changeable weather. The last English city that I have to visit by rail - Berwick-on-Tweed - looms up. It's not quite what I'm expecting, I knew it was a pretty stone town on the river Tweed with some spectacular bridges but I had no idea it was so close to the sea.

Berwick, being a border town, has swapped from England to Scotland a few times in its history, and the Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, is suggesting it return again at present. After passing the faintly dreary small station there we cross the border, one of the many trackside signs of the East Coast announcing the fact. We then speed through the Borders and into Lothian, stopping at the seaside town of Dunbar. I really feel as if I've arrived in Scotland now. The branch from North Berwick curves in from the right to join us and the signs of the city start to build around the line.

We head through the slightly odd Calton Tunnel - the mouths are staggered rather than next to each other - and Waverley looms. It's an amazing station. It's a sort of H-shaped layout, with through tracks on the long sides and terminating platforms on either side of the centre bar. Steps and ramps lead up to the streets on three sides. Taxis mingle with the trains in a way that used to be quite common but you hardly see now. I head for my hotel and settle in before deciding what to do on each of my three days here.

Given that it's nearly three and the major attractions will be closing in a couple of hours, I decide that today is the right day to visit the sight that doesn't close - the Forth Rail Bridge. Back down to Waverley. There are frequent trains across the bridge, it being the main link into Fife. I head out to Dalmeny on a three car class 171 DMU. When I bail out there I see the sight of the bridge just round the corner, the first span elongated into a bright red vertical - a strange sight. I follow the road down to its base - where a couple of Indian tourists ask me how to get to the bridge - so I'm not the only person to come all this way to see the thing! I follow the footpath down to South Queensferry and stand in the harbour to admire the rail and road bridges and get some photographs of them. I visit my first Scottish pub - The Ferry Tap - and sample a pint of Stewarts 80/- from an Edinburgh brewery which I will discover is a local perennial. Then it's off to the very base of the bridge supports to be dwarfed by the towering brick columns before the long climb back to the station. I've wanted to cross this bridge since I first learnt of its existence, but it was admittedly difficult to see much as we rushed through the cradle of ironwork. I gather there can be clouds forming amongst the girders, but sadly not today! On the other side - North Queensferry - there are yet more Indian tourists posing for photographs in its shadow. On this side the bridge weaves through the buildings and gardens, which is an interesting sight. I'm then back on the train, a three coach 171 and two coach 158 DMU coupled up and back to Waverley as the snow assails us.

With a few hours before the Ghost Walk I'm planning to do, I head out to get some chips then back for the three coach 171 to Newcraighall. At present this light forms part of the new Edinburgh Crossrail from Dunblane and Bathgate, opened recently to serve the out of town development and park and ride to the south east of the city. However within ten years it will continue all the way to Tweedbank, as a chunk of the famous Borders Line is rebuilt. This used to reach all the way out to Newcastle and Carlisle. By 1969 the lot had gone, leaving the Borders region with no railways, despite David Steel's best efforts to prevent the closure. Thirty years later and David Steel played a part in the new Scottish Parliament, one of the first acts of which was to introduce a Bill to rebuild the Borders Line. Preparatory work is underway and despite a few hiccups, the project is all go.

I return to the city and stay on until Haymarket this time, further to the west, and take a gentle wander back to the hotel. I get a fish supper and then head off to the Ghost Walk. It's a wee bit disappointing as these things tend to be, but is faintly entertaining in its way. Then I head to a pub that I found earlier in the day - The Half Way House - somehow nestling on a long flight of steps down to the station. It's a tiny place with a nice atmosphere and a good choice of beers. Some blokes come in and one talks to me, introducing himself by checking what team my shirt is from! It's actually just says CCCP! He turns out to be a Hearts fan who guesses that I am a Spurs fan - which he also is! The flowing drink prevents me from remembering why he is a Spurs and a Hearts fan, but the tale of how he got dirty looks at White Hart Lane is entertaining - wearing a claret shirt he was mistaken for a West Ham fan. I was sorry to have to leave but time was moving on and I didn't know for sure whether I was going to be locked out of my hotel.

On Saturday I head out to travel the North Berwick branch. This was electrified along with the East Coast Main Line in the late 80s, and so it's a three coach 321 EMU that takes us there, a train I'm used to seeing in London, though a third rail rather than overhead variety. It's a pleasant little town. Then I head back to Edinburgh for a day of sightseeing - the Dynamic Earth Museum, the Parliament, Holyrood Palace and Arthur's Seat, before picking up the last of this trip's lines - the branch out to Bathgate. This was originally a line all the way to Glasgow but was severed in 1965. By 2010 the missing link will be restored and electrified. There will be four lines linking the two cities - the sort of links we can only dream of in England! Originally I was planning to do this line after it had been rebuilt, but if I am to complete the quest by 40, I'll miss the target if I wait. I'll have to do the other end from Glasgow to Airdrie at a later date. For today, it's a two coach 158 DMU there and back. I return to Haymarket again and spend the evening in two pubs - Thomsons and The Blue Blazer - where again I get talking to people in this friendly city.

And that's essentially it for this trip as regards the quest. On Sunday I visit the extensive castle, walk up Calton Hill, and get one last one trip to my new local, the Half Way House. Then it's back on the train to London. For some reason it's a diesel 125 rather than a 225 EMU. It's not originated beyond Edinburgh so why it's a diesel I don't know. There were engineering diversions earlier, perhaps the 225s weren't all in the right places for the usual schedule. Anyway the fleet overhaul means it looks exactly like a 225 inside, and coupled with the boringly quiet MTU engine, this will keep the trains in service for at least another decade. I've had a fantastic time in Edinburgh, and returning home on my favourite train is a fitting end to the trip.

New Lines:

Newcastle-Edinburgh Waverley
Edinburgh Waverley - North Queensferry
Edinburgh Waverley - Newcraighall
Edinburgh Waverley - Bathgate