Tranent to Cockenzie Waggonway

The landowner, the Earl of Winton, supported the Old Pretender in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 and as a result his estates were forfeit to the Crown.

Following a series of financial speculations, the company became the largest in Scotland, but (because of the difficulty of communication) it found it difficult to manage its business.

It resolved the problem by leasing local businesses to tenants, providing incentives for them to improve their holdings.

This original wooden railway followed a route along what is now School Lane in Cockenzie, before heading eastwards along the High Street to Port Seton Harbour.

[note 3][1][2] Photographs of the waggons used (circa 1854) have been discovered at Cockenzie House, showing a waggonway similar to Shropshire design being used.

[note 4] The railway used small wagons in short trains, and the smaller track gauge indicates the influence of Shropshire waggonway designs.

[3][5][7] The offer for sale declared that: "There is still an extensive field of coal, whereof no part has hitherto been wrought by fire engine or other proper machinery.

The port and harbour of Seaton make part of the estate to be sold; and there is a waggon-way from the coal-pits to the salt-pans and the shore.

"[9][10] Worling concludes: "Obviously, the lower part of the waggonway, as originally built, had been allowed to fall into disuse by the tenant... Clearly, in these early times, horses were used to haul the waggons.

It may be that gravity was used in the downward direction, as happened later, but it is impossible to ascertain how free running the crude vehicles were.

[5] In 1815 the wooden track system was altered to use cast iron fish bellied[note 6] edge rails,[13][7] retaining a single line with passing places.

[12] Alexander Scott described it in 1824: Mr Cadell's waggons travel from his coal-works, in Tranent Moor, to Cockenzie, a distance of upwards of 4,480 yards, on a cast-iron railway, that has various declivities and circular turns; and require only the assistance of a man, in the downward journey, to attend to the several brakes attached to the waggons.

[5] Cadell was able to take advantage of the construction of the main line railway, as it enabled his coal to be transported more cheaply; he arranged for transshipment sidings at both Meadowmill and at Windygoul.

The track gauge of his waggonway prevented through running, and obviously a direct connection from the North British Railway was considerably superior.

Transport of the coal by coastal shipping from Cockenzie Harbour declined, and the lower part of the waggonway, north of the Meadowmill connection with the NBR, soon became disused and was later dismantled.

The upper part continued to flourish, and for another 30 years it carried the Tranent coal down to the main line railway.

[5][7] Twenty years later James Waldie and the other leading East Lothian coalmasters combined to form the Edinburgh Collieries Co. Ltd.

The railway branch line, partly on the alignment of the earlier waggonway, was extended to Fleets Colliery.

The assessment was overseen by Scotia Archaeology Limited and involved fieldwalking, excavation, and geophysical survey, as well as a watching brief in the following year.

In March 1999 an archeological evaluation was undertaken at Tranent Mains Farm in preparation of proposing a housing development, which was located over a stretch of the waggonway.

It was discovered that trenches dating to the mid-20th century for water and sewerage pipes had disturbed and partially destroyed the remains of the waggonway.

In September 2001 another programme of archeological work was undertaken at the site of the housing development at Tranent Mains Farm to investigating possible medieval features encountered in 1999.

[15] In recent years the 1722 Waggonway Heritage Group has undertaken a series of excavations to better understand the history of the railway and associated sites.

At the time of excavation it was believed that only the partial remains of the turntable had been found and that a majority of the structure had been destroyed by a modern pipe trench.

A metal rod that acted as the central pivot point was set into a large round stone.

The rails were put on top of the sleeper beams, and the walking surface was further infilled with smaller cobbles and industrial waste.

Over the years a hard packed surface made of small pieces of coals had built up on top of the cobblestone walkway from the second phase.