Viaduct over the River Lune at Lancaster, - Branch of the North-Western Railway to Poulton-le-Sands

Viaduct over the River Lune at Lancaster, - Branch of the North-Western Railway to Poulton-le-Sands

Image of a newly-opened timber railway viaduct over the River Lune, with accompanying text.

An engraving of a timber viaduct over the River Lune at Lancaster, which carried the Midland Railway to Poulton-le-Sands (later known as Morecambe). The engineer for this viaduct was J. Watson.
The viaduct formed part of a branch of the rail line from Skipton to Kendal. The branch ran from Clapham (North Yorks) to Lancaster.
The engraving accompanies a brief description of the formal opening of the branch line on Wednesday 31st October 1849, which also provides some information about the viaduct itself.
In 1862-4 the viaduct was replaced in wrought iron but the curved design was still used.
The current bridge - known as the Greyhound Bridge - was installed in 1911, and converted from rail to road use in 1971-2.

Anonymous engraver and author.

Illustrated London News, 3 November 1849: 301

Lancaster University

1849

Brief discussion of the succession of bridges at this location on the website 'Engineering timelines', which focuses on the engineering heritage of Britain: http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=583

Nineteenth century

Engraving published in newspaper, with accompanying text.