This book arises from the researches of the 1722 Waggonway Heritage Group into the archaeology and history of a wooden wagonway that ran from the coal mines of Tranent to the harbour and salt pans of Cockenzie and Port Seton and dates to the first half of the eighteenth century. It is an important aspect of the local area’s heritage and Scotland’s early industrialisation. In exploring what records were held relating to the wagonway, Group members discovered a description of the ‘Journals of William Dickson’ in the National Records of Scotland’s digital catalogue and undertook to transcribe them, releasing a wealth of information relating to the research in which the 1722 Waggonway Heritage Group was concerned. William Dickson was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and his journals, or day books, list his time spent and materials used and give some picture of the society in which he moved and worked. The Scottish Record Society is publishing the Group’s transcription of the Journals to coincide with the 300th anniversary of William Dickson’s work on Scotland’s first railway.