 The line had a ruling gradient of 1 in 50.The contract for the construction of the reservoir was let in April, and the substantial wrought iron truss bridge over the Tweed was completed on 20 August 1897.A ceremony for the official opening of the line and stone-laying for the reservoir took place on 29 September 1897, when a special train again ran from Edinburgh, this time to Victoria Lodge, a management building constructed by the Water Trust at the north end of the planned reservoir.