Picture(s) of the day....

[CitroJim]

The fire was in 1970 and was started by some boys playing, possibly lighting a fire by the side of the track to keep warm... The original bridge tubes that carried the rail lines - and you can see a portion of one in one of the pictures above - were lined with pine and sealed with pitch. It was perfect for propagating a fire...

I believe the bridge was closed for two years to effect repairs and strengthening works that would eventually allow the two-tier decks - one for road and one for rail - that would eventually be built. It was during the 1970-72 work that the arches under the bridge were installed and the old tubes fully removed.

Such a shame the lions suffered the ignominy of being more or less hidden as a result of this...

[harryp]

Craigellachie Bridge was featured on one of Julia Bradbury's walks round several distilleries IIRC. She was walking the now defunct Speyside railway, the removal of which left a huge distillery "high and dry" .

[CitroJim]

Ahh, good old Julia I find her and her walks incredibly entertaining and I have to admit I rather fancy her... I'll bet she expressly enjoyed that particular walk...

[harryp]

Jim wrote - "and I have to admit I rather fancy her"
yes Jim, you, me and a few million others no doubt

[NewcastleFalcon]

How about a connection between this and
The Craigellachie Bridge

https://www.pontcysyllte-aqueduct.co.uk ... ALES-8.jpg

from https://www.plaskynastoncanalgroup.org/ ... n-foundry/

The Craigellachie Bridge, erected between 1812 & 1814 with a span of 150ft on the River Spey in Scotland. This bridge was cast and forged at the Plas Kynaston Iron Foundry, Cefn Mawr, and then shipped across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct along the Elsmere Canal, or what is the now called the Llangollen Canal and on to Chester, where it was then loaded onto a sloop for shipment by sea to Spey mouth.

http://www.britainexpress.com/images/at ... e-7168.jpg

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

That is an amazing connection... Been across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct Utterly breathtaking, as is the scenery and setting...

[white exec]

Even the Great IKB didn't get things quite right first time round. Some time after building the spendid Wharncliffe Viaduct in Hanwell, to carry the GWR across River Brent valley, extra width had to be added as the trains got wider, it seems:



At least they did a pukka job.

[Hell Razor5543]

I wonder if the reason they had to widen the bridge is because of IK Brunels' broad gauge railways. They were 7' 1/4" wide, as opposed to 4' 8 1/2" standard gauge. One thing that never happened with the broad gauge rolling stock was that it never fell over when it derailed on the level (it might have done if it came off an embankment).

[NewcastleFalcon]

As ever Wiki comes up with plenty of interesting information about Wharncliffe Viaduct

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wharncliffe_Viaduct

from Bat Colonies in its hollow columns, to the additional widening to take another line, in addition to the original 2 broad guage line capacity giving a 4-line standard guage capacity.

Interesting also that one of the first locomotives across it was the broad guage loco "North Star" supplied by Robert Stephenson son of George who must have been a serious rival to IKB and his broad guage railway at the time.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ograph.jpg

Interesting little piece also on it being the first viaduct to carry electric telegraph.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Nice little combination

https://rmspecialstamps.com/remote.axd/ ... lor=242424https://rmspecialstamps.com/remote.axd/ ... lor=242424

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

Odd that about the Hanwell Viaduct as it would have built for IKB's 7' 1/4" gauge from the outset...

Maybe it was originally single track and it was later dualled... Or tripled or quadrupled perhaps?

Need to look at a later aerial view and see how much room there is with the current tracks...

I know IKB's bridge across the A420 near Swindon was originally built for two 7 foot tracks, as was Box Tunnel.... I go under the bridge at Swindon to know it's never been widened since it was built...

It's an interesting bridge in that it's two arches and the road has to split into two single lanes to pass below it. One lane per arch - not unlike the viaduct between J14 and J15 on the M25 except there each arch takes four lanes each...

EDIT: Love the Mr. Men stamps Neil Made me smile just then!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Came across a link to a French Auction House on another thread on the FCF...never heard of it before so took a look.

Well taking place this very day is an auction of some of this artist's work, and associated memorabillia.

http://scd.en.rfi.fr/sites/english.file ... e-ds_0.jpg

Expected to fetch some eye-watering prices too

regards Neil

edit.......The first strip, a page from the 1954 Explorers on the Moon sold for 1.55 million euros, auctioneers Artcurial announced on Saturday.

[NewcastleFalcon]

....you could have the whole book for £7.99...in colour!

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com ... 3,200_.jpg

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

....and on a Tintin theme if you like cars this is as comprehensive site as there is for the cars which appeared in Tintin as drawn by Herge alongside pics of the actual car.

http://dardel.info/tintin/indexE.html

like this

http://dardel.info/tintin/MG1100_s.jpghttp://dardel.info/tintin/AutosOrig/MG1100_s.jpg

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

And they did fetch eye-watering prices too! £1.3M for an original drawing from 'Explorers On the Moon'...

My all-time favourite Tin Tin story and I love Tin Tin even now...