It's Sunday the 6th of September and a glorious day with blue skies and warm temperatures for the opening of the former Waverley railway line which closed to passengers on the 6th of January 1969. Forty-six years later the dream for so many has materialised.
On a day over-flowing with emotion and joy thousands travelled up and down the new line, thirty miles in length which forms part of the old route between Edinburgh Waverley and Carlisle. The spirit of the Borders was reignited on this day in what has been described as the finest thing ever to happen in the region. Some locals, now retired, recalled their stories of the line in their youth - for them this was almost too much to believe!
On the first passenger travelling day the trains were longer than usual with four and six cars on each, one being specially painted for the opening and another completely re-trimmed inside with new seating and tables aligning with the windows.
Class 158 number 727 is seen approaching Gorebridge station.
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The first train to depart from Edinburgh Waverley to Tweedbank in the Borders is seen in glorious sunshine waiting on platform 11 with hundreds of people who had queued for hours to see this moment. Class 170 number 414 is dressed in a special livery for the occasion and it was a pleasure to travel on this first train out of the Capital at 9.11am. Things had already started at the other end of the line and the first train from Tweedbank departed a little earlier at 8.45.
The line is the longest new domestic railway to be built in the UK for over a century and takes passengers on a 30-mile journey from Edinburgh through Midlothian to Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders.
The £294m construction project, delivered on time and on budget, re-establishes part of the former Waverley line, which fell victim to the controversial Beeching cuts on January the 6th 1969, leaving the Borders region without any access to the National Rail network.
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The first train to depart Edinburgh Waverley attracted hundreds of people for this the re-opening of the Borders railway and as we waited here hundreds more were already speeding their way along the new line from Tweedbank at the other end.
Hugh Wark, project director for Network Rail, said: "It's been a hugely complex project - 30 miles of railway delivered in under three years. It's quite an achievement and I believe it will be hugely successful. It's a marvellous railway, so let's really get the best benefits out of that we possibly can. I can remember the line when it closed in 1969 and it was hugely controversial at the time. I never dreamt in my career that I would be involved in reopening this railway".
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There aren't too many stretches of double track along the new Waverley route and it's a question of careful timing to see when two trains will pass each other. As our train 170 414, the first out of Waverley, arrived at Shawfair so did the first one from Tweedbank, 158 727 and a little time was allowed for photographers to snap both trains together.
The Queen officially opened the railway on Wednesday the 9th of September, marking the day she becomes Britain's longest serving monarch. Scotland's First Minister will greet her at Waverley and a special plaque will be unveiled at Newtongrange station.
Tourism chiefs hope the 55-minute service will boost visitor numbers to Midlothian and the Borders - an area known for its mining heritage, textiles and the landscape which inspired Sir Walter Scott.
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The new Borders railway runs through some of the most beautifully outstanding scenery in Scotland and here is Borthwick Castle, taken from inside the first train from Edinburgh on Sunday the 6th of September.
Borthwick Castle is one of the largest and best-preserved surviving medieval Scottish fortifications. It's located twelve miles south-east of Edinburgh and was constructed in 1430 for Sir William Borthwick, from whom the castle takes its name.
The Castle is built as a double tower, 90 feet high on a small hill surrounded by a stream. Apart from the large cannon scar on one face, the walls, built of fine sandstone ashlar, are virtually complete, and very unusually, none of the original narrow windows have been enlarged.
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