In the eighteenth century Peebles had become an important manufacturing town, chiefly for woollen weaving and also the preparation of cotton and linen products, and also brewing.

In 1807 Thomas Telford was commissioned to design a double-track waggonway connecting Glasgow and Berwick, a distance of 125 miles (201 km), running through Carluke, Peebles and Melrose.

The mountainous terrain of the route would have required steep gradients which would have been challenging for horse traction, and the estimated cost of construction was £365,000, a huge amount at that time, and the scheme was dropped.

A second waggonway scheme was proposed in 1821, this time designed by Robert Stevenson, on an alternative route but it too was considered too ambitious to be practicable.

As the construction progressed, public opinion became active over making a connection between central Scotland and the merging English railway network.

In 1845 too, the North British Railway suggested a Peebles branch from Galashiels on the line that it was then building, which became the Waverley Route.

[1] As the Scottish railway network developed in the following years, the cost of transporting goods to and from towns connected to a line fell dramatically; and Peebles, and other towns not connected, felt at a marked disadvantage in the cost of the necessities of living, and in moving its manufactures to markets, and this heightened the feeling that Peebles must have a railway line.

There was considerable enthusiasm locally and in London for the line and numerous persons registered for shares, although in the event many of them did not proceed with the commitment they had made.

[1][3][4] The directors put in hand the construction of the line, under Bouch's supervision, and the share subscriptions were coming in satisfactorily.

They considered the working of the line, and talked to the North British Railway but found their financial terms unacceptable.

[6] Relations with the contractor for constructing the line appear to have deteriorated in the final months, and after opening it was stated in a general shareholders' meeting that there was an outstanding debt of £5,600, but that the board would not pursue for damages.

Leaving Edinburgh the Peebles coaches were attached at the rear of an NBR Hawick train, and detached at Eskbank.

The trains were an instant success, carryings being beyond what could have been anticipated, and the first full week brought in receipts of £99, climbing a month later to £166.

The carriage stock was also required to be increased, but these acquisitions were straining the capital resources of the company and deferment of payment was practised.

c. xiv), was obtained on 27 June 1857 authorising the issue of an additional £27,000 in shares; improvements and rectification of some deficiencies in the original construction of the line needed attention.

In 1859 it was decided to install turntables at Peebles and Hardengreen Junction, as the tender-first running was said to cause excessive wear on the locomotives and the track.

The track had been laid with the cheapest materials at the advice of the engineer Thomas Bouch, and already in 1858 it was giving trouble, being in need of major renewal.

For some time the community of Innerleithen had agitated for a railway connection, by the building of an independent line from Peebles.

A number of attempts were made to bring this about without success, until in 1860 a line was proposed from Galashiels to Peebles through Innerleithen.

A parliamentary bill failed in 1860, but being re-presented the following year as an NBR branch, it gained royal assent on 28 June 1861 as an act of Parliament.[which?

The NBR agreed to pay for PR shareholders to receive between 5% and 6% dividends, as well as considerable other expenses including purchase of the Peebles Railway's rolling stock for £20,000.

[1][6][3][4] Edinburgh Angling Club had acquired a house, named The Nest, close to the River Tweed, near Clovenfords.

It left Peebles at 08:44 daily, stopping at Leadburn to attach a portion from Broomlee on the Dolphinton branch, arriving at Edinburgh at 09:37.

The Border Show was held in Peebles by the Highland and Agricultural Society in July 1906, and the North British was asked to arrange special services atr reduced rates, which it declined to do.

In 1904 the NBR had declared that it considered Peebles an inappropriate location for the heavy traffic that the show would attract, due to the limited track facilities there.

Considerable public criticism resulted, and in March 1905 the NBR realised that the rival Caledonian Railway was improving its own Peebles branch.

On 25 June 1936 a Caledonian Railway excursion from Lanark ran to Galashiels, using the link, and reversing in Peebles NBR station.

The final passenger trains ran on 3 February 1962, and the following day the route between Hawthornden Junction and Galashiels via Peebles was closed completely.

[11] The entire network of lines is closed to railway activity; the section between Hardengreen Junction and Rosewell has been converted to a cycleway.

Locations on the line were: North British Railway extension to Galashiels: opened 1 October 1864; closed 5 February 1962.