Shankend Viaduct
Shankend Viaduct
![From the west, a view of Shankend's 15 arches.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image1-371.jpg)
![Making a rare appearance, sunlight casts its shadows under the arches.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image2-371.jpg)
![North of the viaduct, lengths of bullhead rail form fence and gate posts.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image3-371.jpg)
![Looking south towards the summit, the rising gradient makes its presence felt.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image4-368.jpg)
![The structure - which has undergone numerous repairs over the years - benefitted recently from a major refurbishment.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image5-361.jpg)
![Close up - the patchwork of different construction materials.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image6-346.jpg)
![Shankend has battled - and survived - 147 testing winters.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image7-324.jpg)
![Wild flowers have carpeted the newly-waterproofed deck.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image8-279.jpg)
![Although a farmhouse shelters beneath it, the structure is isolated from any substantial community.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image9-221.jpg)
![Belching smoke, a southbound freight climbs towards Whitrope.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image10-148.jpg)
![In September 1965, investigators sift through the wreckage of a violent derailment close to the viaduct.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image11-124.jpg)
![A mixed freight enjoys the falling gradient, rattling towards Hawick.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image12-87.jpg)
![Storm clouds gather over Shankend, viewed from its eastern side.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image13-62.jpg)
![Anyone walking along the closed line on April Fools' Day 1971 would have raised a disbelieving smile if you'd told them that a train was about to trundle past. Then along came this Engineer's Special!](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image14-47.jpg)
![Both abutments feature small holes for access purposes.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image15-28.jpg)
![The void within the northern abutment, showing its masonry supports.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image16-20.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image1-371.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image2-371.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image3-371.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image4-368.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image5-361.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image6-346.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image7-324.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image8-279.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image9-221.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image10-148.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image11-124.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image12-87.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image13-62.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image14-47.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image15-28.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image16-20.jpg)
Shankend, a 15-span masonry viaduct, is arguably the Waverley line’s defining structure, standing in bleak countryside to the south of Hawick. Built from locally quarried sandstone and engineering brick, it carried the line for 199 yards over a tributary of the Slitrig.
The line closed amidst anger and controversy in January 1969 – the major trunk route to succumb to Beeching’s cuts.
Four years earlier on 29th September 1965, Shankend had witnessed a crash involving the 0222 southbound freight service which struck a stationary vehicle and derailed, demolishing an overbridge.
Today the structure is Grade B listed. Repairs to an arch at the southern end, spanning a minor road, were carried out in 2000. During 2007, a larger scale refurbishment saw the deck waterproofed and attention paid to the other arches and piers.