Remarkable conjunction of a rail viaduct over a road bridge over a river
Struan Inn
Calvine
The railway northward from Perth was built by the Inverness & Perth Junction Railway whose engineer was Joseph Mitchell (1803-1883). He was the son of the Chief Inspector who worked for Telford on the great road building programme in the highlands, and succeeded his father before turning to railways. In a remarkably short time this 104 mile line between Dunkeld and Forres over difficult terrain was constructed in a mere two years and opened in 1863. As was the case on the Inverness & Nairn, Mitchell designed some impressive bridges and viaducts.
In the area of Blair Atholl it was necessary for the railway company to negotiate with the Duke of Atholl for access to his estate. In order to avoid spoiling the view of falls on the river Garry the railway was carried across the river on a viaduct at the same point as an earlier road bridge. It is a two-span railway viaduct with a segmental arch over a road bridge and a semicircular arch over a river. The arch rings are of dressed stone and the spandrels of rubble. A later steel-truss bridge has been added and now carries the single-track railway. As originally built, it was of stone, measured 83.2m (274 ft) in length by 16.8m (55 ft) in height and comprised two arches, of 24.4m (80 ft) and 12.2m (40 ft) span respectively. A skew bridge carries the road beneath the railway bridge.
In 1899 this part of the railway was doubled and a lattice girder viaduct was built alongside, rather spoiling the appearance of the site. This viaduct carries the Glen Garry portion of the main line of the (Stanley Junction - Inverness) former Highland Rly over the Bruar Water downstream from the Falls of Bruar and about 650m NNW of its debouchement into the Garry Water. The Highland Railway became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923, and the line remains in regular use by passenger traffic.
The road bridge was built in about 1765 as part of the improvement in communication in Scotland. It is Listed Grade B.
This amazing location has been the inspiration for many artists. Enclosed here are some of the works of art they created.
Image Credits:
1864 photo by Whyte & Co. Inverness/Highland Railway Society collection
Part of Whyte's album of 16 photographs of all major bridges and viaducts built at that time. Published as 'Spanning the Gaps' and available from Highland Railway Society
©NRM, Object number 1975-8764. Recently a transparency of a magnificant painting in the National Railway Museum collection was discovered amongst the Newton Abbot Library Railway Studies Collection whose leaflet can be downloaded here.That transparency has been scanned and cleaned up by Paul Silvestri and appears in the gallery here with the kind agreement of both NRM and Newton Abbot Library. The artist has not yet been identified and assistance with that would be welcomed - Contact: Peter.Thorpe@railwaymuseum.org.uk
By Road: Best seen from the B 847 which passes over the old bridge and under the railway viaduct between Struan and Calvine. Close to Calvine Holiday Park
Biddle, Gordon, Britain's Historic Railway Buildings, Oxford University Press, ISBN-10: 0198662475 (2003)
Biddle, Gordon & Nock, O.S., The Railway Heritage of Britain : 150 years of railway architecture and engineering, Studio Editions, ISBN-10: 1851705953 (1990)
Biddle, Gordon and Simmons, J. The Oxford Companion to British Railway History. ISBN 0 19 211697 5 (1997)
Conolly, W. Philip, British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas And Gazetteer, Ian Allan Publishing, ISBN 0-7110-0320-3 (1958/97)
Haldane,A.R.B. The Drove Roads of Scotland. ISBN 978 18415 86953 (2008)
McCall, Colin. Routes, Roads, Regiments and Rebellions. ISBN 978 09544 45508. (2003)
Nelson, G. Highland Bridges. (1990)
Ross, David. The Highland Railway. ISBN 0 7524 3479 9 (2005)
Smith, Martin. British Railway Bridges and Viaducts. ISBN 0 7110 2273 9 (1994)
Thomas, J. and Turnock,D. A Regional History of the Railways of Britain, North of Scotland. ISBN 0 946537 03 8 (1993)
Highland Railway Society includes details of Whyte's album of 16 photographs of all major bridges and viaducts built at that time. Published as 'Spanning the Gaps'.
Forgotten Relics - Listed Bridges and Viaducts
RCAHMS - Bruar Viaduct
