The Strangers

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The viaduct 150 years ago, was not opened But a trouble-free scheme

Staring out to the Solway Firth , it is easy to see how the temptation came.

Instead of the detour to Carlisle, why don't you cut The Corner and make a more direct connection between the Iron Ore -mines of Cumberland and the furnaces of Lanarkshire?

That was opened with the idea behind the Solway Junction Railway 150 years ago, on 13. September 1869.

The only obstacle - the waters between Scotland and England - to overcome would be by a viaduct over 2,000 yards (1. 8 km) Long .

The railway linked Scotland and England on the Solway Firth

The First sod was cut by Annan in March, 1865, and began work on the construction of the iron structure, with an average of about 34 ft (10 m) from The Rails to the bed of the Solway Firth .

A ballad written for the occasion.

the choir has come and went: "Come on! burly men of Annandale/Bear self-exalted; keep in good order. /Cheer, cheer! according to you your welcome-be/Welcome to The Strangers from beyond The Border . "

The track "cut helped The Corner " from the north-west of England -south west Scotland

It would be More Than four years - and an accident that claimed a man's Life - before The Line was finished.

He opened for goods and mineral traffic on Monday 13 September 1869 "without ceremony," and the passengers almost a year later.

The Northern section of the Caledonian Railway Line came to Kirtlebridge while the southern section of the North British Silloth to Carlisle Line .

The iron structure is carried out, the tracks about 10m above The Sea bed

used Initially, it proved to be a Success - for both the freight and The Public - But the blade pretty quickly.

"first of all, The Line profitable with the ore-trains for Lanarkshire, over The Line ," wrote Stuart Edgar and John M Sinton in her book, The Solway Junction railway.

"But in the mid-1870s the ore traffic of the decline due to the cheapening of imports of Spanish ore and the Solway-Junction-railway increasingly with financial difficulties, as the capital was swallowed began. "

Within Six Years of the opening of The First weather troubles hit him with a couple of columns ripped by Frost .

A severe winter forced the closure of the viaduct a little More Than a decade after the opening

It would be damaged by Frost and storms on dozens of occasions - One of the worst in January, 1881.

Large blocks of ice hits the viaduct with the sound described as "artillery fire" and make vibrate the whole structure.

money was collected to repair and strengthen the viaduct But it would not be open fully until 1884.

It was the beginning of a slow decline that was only temporarily reversed during The First World War , the demand for ammunition - But a full closure was not Far Away .

In August 1921 in front of a repair bill estimated at £70,000 at the Time of the Last Train crossed the viaduct.

Different licensing laws saw some people in danger of walking along the viaduct for a drink after the close of the

"The closure of the viaduct, to keep the rail traffic in 1921 , But not the end of their use-such as many of the Scottish Border , Romeo slipped secretly across the Solway viaduct, a rendezvous with his fair English Julia," said the book on the train.

"Besides, many Scots are hospitality, licensed, refused, in those days, on the Sabbath would be foolhardy violate the law, by walking over the viaduct to enjoy your goal is the light-hearted thirst-quenching atmosphere of an English Inn.

"Even after the viaduct was declared dangerous, these 'excursions' ran along The Line on which no trains. "

mining began in 1934, with three Young Men who lose their lives during the demolition work of The Following year.

use the rest of The Line which had subsided, the viaduct of the main network and it was also closed.

Today, only a few hints remain, where the ill-fated Line was - it had bloomed just before the hard rules of business and The British weather took its toll.

carlisle, bowness-on-solway, rail travel, annan

Source of news: bbc.com