Currie railway station was opened in 1874 and served the area of the village of

Currie Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: �kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...

that now forms part of the city of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. Although primarily built as a goods line to serve the many mills on the

Water of Leith The Water of Leith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Uisge Lìte'') is the main river flowing near central Edinburgh, Scotland, and flows into the port of Leith where it flows into the sea via the Firth of Forth. Name The name ''Leith'' may be of Britto ...

, a passenger service was provided by the

Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...

using the Balerno Loop and after grouping by the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

, seeing formal closure to passenger traffic shortly after nationalisation. The station was the largest on the 'loop' line and lay in rural surroundings and had once been popular with families having a day out in the country.

History

Currie station old goods shed, Balerno Loop Line, Midlothian

Opened by the

, it became part of the

London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

during the

Grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

of 1923, and the LMS ran the last train to serve the station in 1943 with the expectation that the line would re-open after the war. The line passed to the

Scottish Region of British Railways The Scottish Region (ScR) was one of the six regions created on British Railways (BR) and consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and ex-London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) lines in Scotland. It existed from the creation o ...

upon

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

in 1948 who then officially closed Currie in 1949. The line had many tight curves and the low line speeds made it vulnerable to competition from road transport.

Infrastructure

The station had a passing loop, two wooden platforms, a pedestrian overbridge with the ticket office, waiting room, etc. located on the northern side of the single track line with a typical

style small wooden station building with a short canopy. The goods yard, on the south side of the line, was served from the west side of the station and had a large goods shed. A signalbox was located on the westbound platform at the west end. The station was host to a LMS

caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

from 1936 to 1939. The OS map of 1893 shows the goods shed with one other siding and a siding running parallel to the main line, a weighing machine and several small buildings associated with the goods yards.Edinburghshire VI.8 (Currie) Publication date: 1895 Revised: 1893
/ref> By 1967 the platforms had been removed, the passing loop remained and the station building was still intact.

The site today

The station is now part of the Water of Leith Walkway that follows much of the route of the Balerno Loop. The platforms survive only as low earthen mounds and the old goods shed was used by the council for storage.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * Wignall, C.J. (1983). ''Complete British Railways Maps and Gazetteer From 1830-1981.'' Oxford : Oxford Publishing Co. .

Disused railway stations in Edinburgh Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1874 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1943 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1949 Former Caledonian Railway stations {{Edinburgh-railstation-stub