Railways

1958

British Railways Adverts

Evening Dispatch:  Jan 27 1958, p.1

Evening Dispatch:  February 12, 1958, p.1

Evening Dispatch:  April 30 1958, p.1

Evening Dispatch:  June 6 1958,

Newspapers - 1958

The adverts above appeared in the Evening Dispatch in 1958

Please click here to read other extracts from the paper in 1958.

Reply

1.

John Simpson

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Thank you to John Simpson for sending the comments below.

John wrote:

Before 1958

"I question the year that diesel services were introduced. You show 1958, but I think that should be 1956.

I was at the introduction display at Waverley.  I recall that one of the trains had an accident before the service started and also shortly after the test runs of the Glasgow units commenced.

My reason for questioning the year is that I left Edinburgh in October 1956 just prior to the end of the Edinburgh trams. *** "

John Simpson, Calgary, Alberta, Canada:  September 19, 2010

***  The last tram ran in Edinburgh on November 16, 1956.

Edinburgh-Glasgow Service

January 1957

The railway adverts above suggest that diesel multiple unit services in Edinburgh might have commenced in 1958.

This was the case for the Edinburgh Suburban line and several other services.  However, at least one service (Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street) began to use Diesel Multiple Units earlier.

This Class 126 web site refers to Diesel Multiple Units being introduced on the Edinburgh to Glasgow service in January 1957.

Reply

2.

Alan Grieve

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Thank you to Alan Grieve who replied:

Trials

"John Simpson raises the question of the DMUs being introduced to Edinburgh in 1956, not 1958 as shown in the Evening Dispatch adverts

There was a short trial on the Corstorphine-North Berwick and Galashiels to Peebles routes in 1956  with Metro-Cammell twin set E79055/E79261 from East Anglia. I remember being very excited by the chance to ride on this set from Musselburgh to Edinburgh one day.

However the steam trains still worked the Musselburghs, the North Berwicks and the Suburban services in 1957 as I used them for my first year at work from January 1957.

It was early 1957 when the Swindon Inter-city sets took over the Glasgow route, but the dates you show for full dieselisation of the local services are correct. Full details can be found on the Railcar web site."

Trials

"Incidentally from my house in Inveresk we kept hearing these two-tone horns during 1956 and 1957 and my mother was very curious as we had never heard anything like it before.

It was, of course, diesel units on the main line passing Monktonhall Junction and Inveresk station on 'driver training' turns as the men were trained up to take over the steam services.

I think they may have used the old Aberlady branch for training purposes."

Alan Grieve, Minehead, Somerset, England:  October 7, 2010

Reply

3.

John Wilson

Slateford, Edinburgh

Thank you to Alan Grieve who replied:

Adverts

"The adverts above quote the wording on the original adverts (with one error that John has pointed out ++) but these are not the original adverts.  The originals included an image of a diesel train.

In fact, the advert for the introduction of diesel trains to Musselburgh and the south side circle in June 1958 gives wording about diesel trains already running (from earlier in 1958) to "...North Berwick, between Waverley and Galashiels via Peebles and between Princes Street and Leith North

John Wilson, Slateford, Edinburgh:  Jan 20 + Mar 29, 2015