the River Tweed) and Newcastle upon Tyne. The North British Railway was able to advertise a train service from Edinburgh to London, although passengers and goods needed to be conveyed by road across the Tweed at Berwick, and across the River Tyne at Newcastle: the two river bridges were still under construction. It was not until 1850 that the permanent bridges were inaugurated, by Queen Victoria, although some working over temporary structures had already taken place. The Edinburgh station The station at Edinburgh was located in a depression between the Old and New Towns; this had early been a disreputable and insanitary swamp called the Nor' Loch, although steps had been taken to provide ornamental gardens on part of the area. The North British Railway obtained a cramped site close to the North Bridge, and the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway extended their line from their terminus at Haymarket to meet the NBR. The new station was operated jointly, and was simply called "the Edinburgh station" or "the North Bridge station". It also came to be referred to as "the General station", and much later it was named "Waverley station". A takeover offer from George Hudson The English railway entrepreneur George Hudson was expanding his portfolio of railways and in 1847 his York and Newcastle Railway and the Newcastle and Berwick Railway were close to completing the English portion of a route from London to Edinburgh. Hudson made an offer to purchase the North British Railway (through the medium of his own companies) for 8% on the NBR capital. Hudson's offer placed a high value on the NBR, but it was rejected by the North British Railway shareholders on the advice of their Chairman. The Hawick line Parliament had declined to authorised the NBR line throughout to Carlisle, and for the time being Hawick was to be the southern terminus, although the plan to construct to Carlisle later was made manifest. As the Edinburgh end was to use the old Edinburgh and Dalkeith alignment, some connections between the NBR and that line had to be made, as well as the upgrading of the E&DR line, doubling the single line section beyond Dalkeith, and construction of a new viaduct over the River South Esk and Dalhousie. After the NBR had formally purchased the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway, first openings took place in 1847 but it was not until 1 November 1849 that