Edinburgh retro: 12 great photos looking back at the former Leith …

A Mr A Mackay prepares the last diesel train to run on North Leith Suburban Line, at Central Station in 1962.

Leith Central Station, situated between Leith Walk and Easter Road ^[1], operated from 1903 until 1952, with the large passenger hub offering four platforms around 15 feet above street level.

On the Leith Walk side, the station was entered by doors on the corner of Duke Street, leading to stairs up to the ticket office, waiting rooms and other passenger facilities which were situated at platform level, one storey above the street. Below these were retail premises on the Leith Walk and Duke Street sides of the Foot of the Walk, most notably the Central Bar ^[2], which still exists.

At the eastern side, the station was still as high above street level, however, the four platforms and many sidings contained within the station narrowed to cross Easter Road on a four-track bridge. Before crossing Easter Road, the train sheds finished just before the platform ends, around 45 yards from Easter Road. Between the glass panelled gable end of the train shed and the Easter Road bridge was Leith Central signal box. Also provided at that end of the station was an additional entrance. From almost underneath the Easter Road bridge, access was gained to the platforms by way of two stairways, meaning passengers did not have to make the long trip from the bottom of Easter Road to the foot of Leith Walk to catch their train.

Exterior of the Central Station site at Leith pictured in May 1972, long after the stations stopped serving passengers and just a year after it was last used as a depot. (Photo: George Smith)

Following its closure to passengers, the station was adapted to become a motive power depot from 1956 until 1971. It was finally closed completely in 1972, before being partially demolished in 1979.

In the 1980s, the derelict train station ^[3] was notorious as a haven for drug addicts, and this inspired a key scene in the Trainspotting ^[4] series of books by Irvine Welsh, when Begbie hears an alcoholic tramp shout that he must be there for train-spotting before he realises that the tramp is his father.

The large building was subsequently completely demolished and all that remains is the terminal building and clock tower. The site of the station platforms currently houses a children's soft-play centre, formerly Leith Waterworld, and a supermarket. The main building which housed the station offices, waiting room, the station clock and the shops at street level all still stand at the foot of Leith Walk.

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An aerial photo of the former Leith Central railway station taken ahead of its demolition in September 1979, with the Easter Road entrance in the foreground, with the large station stretching out to Leith Walk. (Photo: Stan Warburton)

Interior of the demolished Leith Central railway station, Edinburgh, in December 1976, which had lay derelict since 1971. (Photo: George Smith)

Overview of the Central Station site at Leith in May 1972, looking up Leith Walk, with the now demolished rail bridge a hundred yards or so up the road visible. (Photo: George Smith)

Exterior of Leith Central railway station at the junction of Duke Street and Leith Walk in Edinburgh, pictured in October 1985. (Photo: Albert Jordan)

A 63ft section of wall collapsed at Leith Central station, hitting a taxi and a Ford Fiesta car, in March 1989. (Photo: Bill Stout)

James Duncan accesses his taxi after the Leith Central Station wall collapse in March 1989. (Photo: Bill Stout)

Interior of the derelict Leith Central railway station at the junction of Duke Street and Leith Walk in Edinburgh, October 1985. (Photo: Albert Jordan)

An aerial photo of Leith Walk in Edinburgh, taken in October 1977, showing the old railway bridge (no longer there) and the foot of Leith Walk looking north to Princes Street, with Leith Central Station in the foreground on the left.

British Railways officials investigate after two diesel trains collided at Leith in August 1970. (Photo: Alan Ledgerwood)

The site at the foot of Leith Walk where the grand entrance to Leith Central Station once was, as it is currently. (Photo: NHS Lothian)

References

^{^} Easter Road (www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com)
^{^} Central Bar (www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com)
^{^} train station (www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com)
^{^} Trainspotting (www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com)