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Train stuck in the snow at Leadburn.

Fieldworkers
Date 1969
Track ID 5277
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1969.188.B4

Original Tape ID

SA1969.188

Summary

Train stuck in the snow at Leadburn.

Robert Veitch travelled every day [from Peebles] to the Royal High School in Edinburgh, from the age of eight. Once, the train got stuck in a snowdrift at Leadburn. Robert was in a compartment by himself, but the guard moved him into a first class compartment, where a man took out sandwiches and ate them without offering any. However the guard shared his piece [sandwiches] with Robert. Further down the train, a soldier wearing a kilt jumped out into the snow, and it was so deep that his legs were buried and his kilt fanned out around him. When it got dark, about 7.00 or 8.00 p.m., the passengers were taken to a surfaceman's house at Leadburn. Robert was so cold he couldn't walk. The guard, Mr Boyd from Abbeyhill, died soon afterwards as a result of that day. Robert's father was so worried that he walked through the snow, preceded by a bigger man, as far as Eddleston, where he got information.

Item Subject/Person

Veitch, Robert

Item Location

County - Midlothian

Parish - Penicuik

Village/Place - Leadburn

Language

English

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good