Archaeologists have discovered the remains of Scotland’s earliest standard gauge railway in Cockenzie, East Lothian. Believed to have been in use as early as 1775, the 1435mm (4’8.5″) wide wooden railway may even predate the Willington Waggonway of Newcastle, previously believed to be the oldest standard gauge railway. That 1435mm track gauge would spread from the gravity-and-horse-powered waggon railways to become the standard for the steam-powered trains of the 19th century.
The excavation is part of the Waggonway 1722 Project‘s community heritage initiative to investigate and preserve the Tranent – Cockenzie Waggonway, the earliest recorded railway of any gauge in Scotland. It was built in 1722 by the York Buildings Company to carry coal from the pits at Tranent to the industrial saltworks of Cockenzie where salt was produced by evaporating seawater in large vats known as salt pans. The loaded waggons went down the railway powered by gravity with brakemen overseeing. The empty wagons were pulled back up to the coal pits by horses.
An enormous quantity of coal was necessary to feed the pans — 2,000 tons a year — which amounted to more than a dozen full waggon deliveries per day, six days a week. To support these frequent runs of great weight, the waggonway had double height rails to overcome the difficulty of moving heavy wooden carts laden with tons of coal over soggy ground. It featured one sets of rail “floated” on top of another, the lower rails connected and stabilized by tie beams. The timbers were cut square and joined with wooden dowels called trenails.
Archaeologists and volunteers have uncovered 65 feet of the railway so far, including preserved sections of rail and ties with their original trenails.
“The dig has been another huge success for the project,” said Ed Bethune, chair of the Waggonway Project.
“We have yet again, with the combined help of professionals and community volunteers, added significant information to the archaeological record and made new discoveries to add to the incredible history of this earliest of Scottish railways.
“To discover that this gauge, which we consider ‘modern’, was in use earlier than we could have imagined, is not only exciting but nationally significant.”
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