Rathyatra wrote:
Great shot and thanks for the history!!
No problem glad you liked it.
Linda From Maine wrote:
Very striking image! Thanks so much for the story, too. Love this worldwide forum :)
You're right about the forum it's excellent.
jerryc41 wrote:
Wow! That's tremendous!
It's quite daunting when standing underneath them.
Kelpie, or water kelpie, is the Scots name given to a shape-shifting water spirit inhabiting the lochs and pools of Scotland. It has usually been described as appearing as a horse, but is able to adopt human form. Some accounts state that the kelpie retains its hooves when appearing as a human, leading to its association with the Christian idea of Satan as alluded to by Robert Burns in his 1786 poem "Address to the Deil".
See more at http://www.thekelpies.co.uk/
JCam wrote:
Nice picture, but should we infer from your reply that this is now a privately owned Rail Road? Is it run for profit?
No it is a new rail line built by the Scottish government to connect Edinburgh with the Borders area. The history is as follows:-
"Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (21 April 1913 23 March 1985), commonly known as Dr Beeching, was chairman of British Railways and a physicist and engineer. He became a household name in Britain in the early 1960s for his report "The Reshaping of British Railways", commonly referred to as "The Beeching Report", which led to far-reaching changes in the railway network, popularly known as the Beeching Axe.
As a result of the report, just over 4,000 route miles were cut on cost and efficiency grounds, leaving Britain with 13,721 miles (22,082 km) of railway lines in 1966. A further 2,000 miles (3,200 km) were lost by the end of the 1960s.[3]
They virtually laid new tracks on the original line with some alterations.