For the best part of a century, Edinburgh had not just one but two city centre railway terminals located a mile apart from one another.
Built for and operated by the Caledonian Railway Company, Princes Street Station was the West End rival to the North British Railway Company's Waverley Station at the opposite end of the capital's main thoroughfare.
Replacing an earlier temporary station at Lothian Road, the original wooden shed of Princes Street Station opened to rail traffic in May 1870 and was subsequently rebuilt in red sandstone following a fire in 1890.
READ MORE: The lost Edinburgh train stations that are now closed or demolished
The grand terminal, which was complete by 1893, had seven platforms covered by an 850ft long bayed roof and interior features that were was strikingly similar to the Caledonian Railway Company's Central Station in Glasgow.
Inside the station there was a ornate refreshments bar and restaurant, with space for shops, a booking office and ample space for carriages, and later cars, to park within metres of the platforms.
Keen to keep pace with the North British Railway Company, who were in the process of adding a purpose-built railway hotel, which we know today as The Balmoral, the Caledonian's owners constructed a hotel of their own directly above the station's three entrance archways facing Princes Street. Opened in 1903, The Caledonian Hotel, as it would become known, was designed by city architectural firm Peddie and Washington Browne.
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For much of its life, Princes Street Station was a busy terminal. It offered passenger services to London via Carstairs, and linked to an extensive suburban network that branched out to practically every corner of Edinburgh.
Locally referred to as 'the Caley', Princes Street Station was also the station of choice for processions, with the royals favouring the ground level access from Rutland Street to the steep ramps of Waverley.
Records state that there were 16 services each day to Glasgow, 20 to Carlisle and 10 to Aberdeen, plus numerous local services taking passengers to Leith in the north, Barnton in the west and branch lines to Colinton and Balerno in the southwest.
In the 1960s, the Beeching review of the nation's railway network identified Princes Street Station as being one of many lines and terminals that were surplus to requirements, and, controversially, the decision was made to close it.
The end of the line for Princes Street Station came in 1965, with the last train, an 11.30pm sleeper service to Birmingham, departing the station on Saturday, 4 September that year.
The railway station was demolished in stages between 1965 and 1970, with few remnants being spared, save for the hotel, which still operates today as Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh - The Caledonian, and the ornate vehicle entrance gates at Rutland Street.
Click on our gallery link below to see a dozen incredible images that show Princes Street Station in all its glory.
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