Princes Street Station - Edinburgh's Forgotten Railway Gem

[@graememckay9972]

The massive expansion of the victorian rail network is mind boggling when you compare it to how long it takes to build a small modular station these days and the inability to build the HS2 lines.

[@lsmanley1978]

Living just off Lothian Road I always find it hard to get my head around how there was once a major train station there. The same with Leith Central Station.

[@ianmcsherry5254]

Did you know that the entire block now bounded by Lothian Road, Morrison Street, Semple Street and Fountainbridge was once an open canal basin? It was called Lochrin Basin, the current incarnation over the other side of Fountainbridge being named after it. The old one was bigger though, and devoted to industry, with dedicated cargo handling facilities. Fell into disuse, probably with the coming of the railways, and was filled in.

[@lsmanley1978]

@ I didn’t - are there any photos?

[@AndrewHarding-kg1iq]

Thanks for this really interesting piece. I had no idea there used to be a station there. 👍

[@apflewis]

"I had no idea there used to be a station there" Tracks ran in along what is now the Western approach road.

[@GrahamMacdonald-w9o]

I am only aware of using Princes Street Station once, shortly before it closed. Our mother took my brother and me to Waverley Station and we got off at Princes Street Station. The journey took just a couple of minutes and, being naive primary school kids, we asked Mum why we didn't get on the no.44 bus by the Scott Monument (next to Waverley) rather than in Shandwick Place (next to Princes Street Station) to go home and not bother with the train. Mum, who was not a fan of 'horrible, stinky' steam trains, told us that Princes Street Station was about to close and that the west end of Princes Street would have fresher air after the closure. Mum didn't lament the closure of the station!

[@malcolmdods7466]

There was always a beautiful Christmas Tree in the Caley Station and I also remember the Welshmen singing there at the time of what was the 5 .Nations

[@pauljohnson4525]

Thanks for sharing this , isn't it such a shame that these amazing buildings have gone for ever

[@steveluckhurst2350]

No. It's called progress.

[@GuitarandMusicInstitute]

@@steveluckhurst2350😂

[@bar10ml44]

Thank you. Beautiful presentation. Very sad they closed it. Some decisions are ruthless

[@MrDHCuthill]

I remember embarking at Merchiston and the train taking 3 minutes to get to the Caley. At Chrismas there was a huge tree and an amazing electric model railway.

[@andrewsmith-cm9qw]

I worked at The Caledonian Hotel 1978/80 beautiful building and the kitchens below ground were fascinating. We had walk in fridges below street level opposite the Rutland Hotel and the staff accommodation was on the top floor.

[@alexanderbrydone9873]

I remember getting on the two carriage train at the Caley and getting off at Craigleith station to visit my aunt in Craigleith Crescent.

[@JamesDickson-vs5of]

Whare did you live, my granny lived near caley station, yeaman place 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿✌️

[@fannycraddock99]

Thanks for another fascinating story.

[@ReginaldCarden]

I traveled on this line many times, the train from London would split at Carstairs. I also worked as a silver service waiter at the "Cally", serving Lou Reed and Black Sabbath among others.

[@alanbrown9178]

Growing up in Edinburgh in the 50s, it was always known as "The Caley".

[@starmersbarber]

A lovely video- cheers.

[@ianrankin5686]

Fantastic! Video footage of the caley station .my great uncle Dave Smith was head station Master at the Caledonian, and uncle stewart traction inspector st Margaret's shed in Dalry.

[@brianswift2706]

Seen a lot of the photos before, great to see them all together in one video

[@wimthetim1]

I remember as a child thinking it was a better station than Waverley. A similar tragedy happened in Glasgow with the demise of St Enoch’s station

[@johngamba4823]

And now there are major problems in Edinburgh because the remaining stations don’t have enough capacity

[@TheRealMartinDominik]

And now we cannot meet the demand for trains going into Edinburgh due to the capacity bottleneck between Waverley and Haymarket stations... 😟

[@reflective5001]

Correct, and there is no easy interchanging between buses, trams and trains, encouraging many extra car journeys I'm sure.

[@begachka]

Short-termism reigns. Demand during the 60s and 70s inevitably prompted its demise but as with most other lines in Edinburgh & Scotland it probably should have been retained as a light railway or tram route.

[@johntait491]

I used to get the train to and from here back to Callander via Stirling in the early 60's. I remember many of these Black 5 locomotives.

[@Bruce-1956]

I remember this station.

[@xr6lad]

Amazing they closed such a more superior station that actually had room to expand. And the main line of the other station pretty much ran directly underneath so you could have constructed lower level underground platforms to integrate them and close Waverley which is a mess anyway.

[@kieranbeecroft8414]

i disagree. as a terminus station it had no option for through other than a platform on the tunnels (at best 4 through lines, more likely 2 one at each side) which would have been prohibitively expensive to build, causing a closing of tunnels while worked which were the only through route at the time. It had no expansion room as Lothian road on one side, and other building restraints on the other, so would be limited to 7 platforms. Waverly now has 22 (iirc - its been a while since I got a train there) including east and west facings terminals, 6 through platforms, with room to have 4 of those split into 2 for 10 separate platforms, with passing loops to maximise traffic through. The only advantage Princess street had was street level access, while Waverly only had its traffic ramps (which have since closed). There was no real choice between them. the only real surprise is that Haymarket was retained as well!

[@ronaldweir712]

The Caley was closed simply because it was no longer needed. It is amazing that it hung on some 17 years after nationalisation. The reason it was closed was because BR got their act together and connected the line from Slateford to run onto the Edinburgh and Glasgow so the Caley could be bypassed. All the local traffic to the North and west of Edinburgh were also closed. The result is that Waverley is one of the biggest stations in the U.K. and offers advantages of through trains that the Caley couldn't.

[@johnsmith5726]

No mention of the Waverly carnival, which was based permanently upstairs from the station.

[@bermudagirl50]

Didn't know the hotel had been renamed. Thought it was still the "Cale"

[@davidwatson7604]

This is a comment for the Algo boost!

[@douglaswalker4656]

Was it not serving its own Rahway companies? GNER?? Apart from East line railways. Used to go train spotting there😊. You would see Steam engines from afar especially on Murrayfield rugby days😂😂 That’s what you did in 1964😂😂

[@kamcg1049]

In 1981 the Caledonian Hotel, North British Hotel (now Balmoral) and Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire were sold as a package at the start of Thatchers privitisation.

[@crabtonia]

Nobody calls it the Caledonian...it is and always has been 'The Caley'...dgp/uk

[@showmanpete2805]

PROGRESS SUCKS!

[@ONEFATE9]

And yet another station lost to time. No sense of history and no sense of culture. Don't you save anything?

[@kjh23gk]

"no sense of culture" Have you never been to Edinburgh? 🤔

[@ONEFATE9]

@kjh23gk No. I don't travel, and I'm not British. So, sorry.

[@kjh23gk]

Regarding historic culture, Edinburgh has retained more of its built heritage than pretty much any city in the UK. Most of the centre is a UNESCO world heritage site. And as far as contemporary culture goes, it hosts the world's largest arts festival (and has done for over 70 years).

[@scottyg7284]

@@ONEFATE9Maybe you shouldn’t comment on matters that you know hee haw about.

[@ONEFATE9]

No need to be rude about it. I did apologise.