Solway Junction Railway - Solway Viaduct

Solway Viaduct - The greatest item of engineering on the The Solway Junction Railway was the Viaduct Bridge linking Bowness with Seafield across the Solway Firth, and was designed by James Bunlees the first freight train passed over the viaduct on the opening of the line on 13th September l869 A passenger service was not established until a year later on 8th August 1870. To see the remains of the Solway Viaduct today CLICK HERE

Solway Viaduct - Click on image to Enlarge

Solway Viaduct	Viaduct at Annan	Barges during building	Viaduct Construction	Viaduct at Dusk
Wampool Viaduct	Solway Viaduct 1920	Solway Viaduct 1920	Viaduct Construction

There always had been a ford across the Solway from the earliest times, which was known locally as “Creighton" and many a bottle of whisky has been smuggled south of the Border hidden in a sack of oats, or under a kilt. But the advent of the railway era required something more stable to serve as a permanent crossing. The Solway Viaduct necessitated the construction of a sea embankment 440 yards long on the English side, and one of 154 yards on the Scottish side, which gave the foundations of the 1,054 yards long bridge. The track was 34 feet above the sea level supported by a pillar every 30 feet, whilst the cast iron used amounted to 2,900 tons together with 1,800 tons of wrought iron.