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Forth Bridge Approach Railways
The Forth Bridge approach railways were railway lines constructed in the period 1887 to 1890 to form new main lines on the opening of the Forth Bridge at the Queensferry crossing. Until then, only local branch lines approached the location. The North British Railway built new main lines and upgraded some existing lines. The increase in passenger traffic resulted in serious congestion at Edinburgh Waverley, which was extended and modernised in the years following 1890. Background In 1842 the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway opened its main line. It was an immediate success, showing that longer distance railways could be commercially viable. The easy availability of money in the following years resulted in a considerable number of Scottish railway schemes being promoted, and many were authorised in the 1845 Parliamentary session. Among them were railways aspiring to reach northwards from the central belt.John Thomas revised J S Paterson, ''A Regional History of the Railways of Great ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forth Bridge
The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in 2016), and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was designed by English engineers Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker. It is sometimes referred to as the Forth Rail Bridge (to distinguish it from the adjacent Forth Road Bridge), although this has never been its official name. Construction of the bridge began in 1882 and it was opened on 4 March 1890 by the Duke of Rothesay, the future Edward VII. The bridge carries the Edinburgh–Aberdeen line across the Forth between the villages of South Queensferry and North Queensferry and has a total length of . When it opened it had the longest single cantilever bridge span in the world, until 1919 when the Quebec Bridge in Canada was completed. It continues to be the world's second-longest s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tay Rail Bridge
The Tay Bridge ( gd, Drochaid-rèile na Tatha) carries the railway across the Firth of Tay in Scotland between Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife. Its span is . It is the second bridge to occupy the site. Plans for a bridge over the Tay to replace the train ferry service emerged in 1854, but the first Tay Bridge did not open until 1878. It was a lightweight lattice design of relatively low cost with a single track. On 28 December 1879, the bridge suddenly collapsed in high winds. The incident is one of the greatest bridge-related engineering disasters to have occurred. An enquiry determined that the bridge was insufficiently engineered to cope with high winds. It was replaced by a second bridge constructed of iron and steel, with a double-track, parallel to the remains of the first bridge. Work commenced on 6 July 1883 and the bridge opened in 1887. The new bridge was subject to extensive testing by the Board of Trade, which resulted in a favourable report. In 2003, the b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Single-line Working
On a railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ..., single-line workingDriver's Rulebook: Module P1 - Sections 1 to 6 Single line working refers to the practice where, when one line out of the two lines is blocked, trains are able to use the other in either direction.Brainscape Flashcards: Single line working /ref> This is usually when a line is out of use for maintenanc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railways Of Kinross
The Railways of Kinross were a local network of three rural railways which made the town of Kinross in Scotland their objective in the 1850s. They were: * the Fife and Kinross Railway from Ladybank to Kinross; * the Kinross-shire Railway from near Cowdenbeath to Kinross; and * the Devon Valley Railway from Tillicoultry to Kinross, although the last-named was not completed until 1872. These single-track rural lines became part of the main line network when the first Tay Bridge was opened in 1878, and then the Forth Bridge in 1890. For the Forth Bridge route two new sections of route were constructed, a cut-off line near Cowdenbeath, and the Glenfarg line connecting Mawcarse and Bridge of Earn, near Perth. All the local passenger services were discontinued by 1964, and the through Glenfarg route to Perth closed in 1970 to make way for the M90 motorway. History Kinross In the interior of the country, Kinross, the county town of Kinross-shire, had developed little before the railw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mineral Railways Of Dunfermline
Several mineral railways were constructed around Dunfermline in western Fife, Scotland, in the eighteenth century and later. Their purpose was to convey minerals to market from the outcropping coal deposits that had encouraged industrial activity in the area from an early date. Several waggonways were built: the Fordell Railway, the Elgin Railway, the Halbeath Railway and others, with the objective of connecting collieries and quarries with harbours on the Firth of Forth. The Elgin Railway carried passengers from 1833 and formed the core of the Charlestown Railway and Harbour company, and finally in 1856 the West of Fife Mineral Railway was founded to build new lines. The Charleston and West of Fife companies combined to form the West of Fife Railway and Harbour. All the lines have ceased to exist, except that a short section of the Charlestown line forms part of the Inverkeithing to Dunfermline line. Background, limestone and coal Coal deposits had been worked in the area clo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dunfermline And Queensferry Railway
The Dunfermline and Queensferry Railway was a railway company founded to form part of a rail and ferry route between Dunfermline and Edinburgh, in Scotland. It was authorised in 1873 and its promoters had obtained informal promises from the larger North British Railway that the NBR would provide financial help, and also operate the ferry and the necessary railway on the southern side of the Firth of Forth. In fact the NBR realised that the Forth Bridge would be built before long and that money spent on the Queensferry line would be wasted. They withdrew their support and the little company tried to build its line alone, but it soon ran out of money and had to sell out to the NBR. The NBR completed the line and opened the south-side connecting line, but the opening of the Forth Bridge in 1890 reduced the Queensferry line to a minor branch line. History For centuries there have been a number of places where ferries took passengers and goods across the Forth, and one of these was at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It amalgamated with several other railways to create the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at grouping in 1922. The Midland had a large network of lines emanating from Derby, stretching to London St Pancras, Manchester, Carlisle, Birmingham, and the South West. It expanded as much through acquisitions as by building its own lines. It also operated ships from Heysham in Lancashire to Douglas and Belfast. A large amount of the Midland's infrastructure remains in use and visible, such as the Midland main line and the Settle–Carlisle line, and some of its railway hotels still bear the name '' Midland Hotel''. History Origins The Midland Railway originated from 1832 in Leicestershire / Nottinghamshire, with the purpose of serving the needs o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway (NER) was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854 by the combination of several existing railway companies. Later, it was amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923. Its main line survives to the present day as part of the East Coast Main Line between London and Edinburgh. Unlike many other pre-Grouping companies the NER had a relatively compact territory, in which it had a near monopoly. That district extended through Yorkshire, County Durham and Northumberland, with outposts in Westmorland and Cumberland. The only company penetrating its territory was the Hull & Barnsley, which it absorbed shortly before the main grouping. The NER's main line formed the middle link on the Anglo-Scottish "East Coast Main Line" between London and Edinburgh, joining the Great Northern Railway near Doncaster and the North British Railway at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Although primarily a Northern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway (GNR) was a British railway company incorporated in 1846 with the object of building a line from London to York. It quickly saw that seizing control of territory was key to development, and it acquired, or took leases of, many local railways, whether actually built or not. In so doing, it overextended itself financially. Nevertheless, it succeeded in reaching into the coalfields of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire, as well as establishing dominance in Lincolnshire and north London. Bringing coal south to London was dominant, but general agricultural business, and short- and long-distance passenger traffic, were important activities too. Its fast passenger express trains captured the public imagination, and its Chief Mechanical Engineer Nigel Gresley became a celebrity. Anglo-Scottish travel on the East Coast Main Line became commercially important; the GNR controlled the line from London to Doncaster and allied itself with the North Ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tay Bridge Disaster
The Tay Bridge disaster occurred during a violent storm on Sunday 28 December 1879, when the first Tay Rail Bridge collapsed as a North British Railway (NBR) passenger train on the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line from Burntisland bound for its final destination of Dundee passed over it, killing all aboard. The bridge—designed by Sir Thomas Bouch—used lattice girders supported by iron piers, with cast iron columns and wrought iron cross-bracing. The piers were narrower and their cross-bracing was less extensive and robust than on previous similar designs by Bouch. Bouch had sought expert advice on wind loading when designing a proposed rail bridge over the Firth of Forth; as a result of that advice he had made no explicit allowance for wind loading in the design of the Tay Bridge. There were other flaws in detailed design, in maintenance, and in quality control of castings, all of which were, at least in part, Bouch's responsibility. Bouch died less than a year after the disast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Bouch
Sir Thomas Bouch (; 25 February 1822 – 30 October 1880) was a British railway engineer. He was born in Thursby, near Carlisle, Cumberland, and lived in Edinburgh. As manager of the Edinburgh and Northern Railway he introduced the first roll-on/roll-off train ferry service in the world. Subsequently as a consulting engineer, he helped develop the caisson and popularised the use of lattice girders in railway bridges. He was knighted after the successful completion of the first Tay Railway Bridge, but his reputation was destroyed by the subsequent Tay Bridge disaster, in which 75 people are believed to have died as a result of defects in design, construction and maintenance, for all of which Bouch was held responsible. He died within 18 months of being knighted. Early career Bouch's father (a retired sea-captain) kept the Ship Inn at Thursby and Thomas was educated locally (Thursby and then Carlisle) before at the age of 17 beginning his civil engineering career as assistant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North British Railway
The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followed a policy of expanding its geographical area, and competing with the Caledonian Railway in particular. In doing so it committed huge sums of money, and incurred shareholder disapproval that resulted in two chairmen leaving the company. Nonetheless the company successfully reached Carlisle, where it later made a partnership with the Midland Railway. It also linked from Edinburgh to Perth and Dundee, but for many years the journey involved a ferry crossing of the Forth and the Tay. Eventually the North British built the Tay Bridge, but the structure collapsed as a train was crossing in high wind. The company survived the setback and opened a second Tay Bridge, followed soon by the Forth Bridge, which together transformed the railway networ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
