The NOSTALGIA Collection
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Railway Heritage
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On the 28th December 1879 the worst structural engineering collapse in Britain's history occured. Dundee was being ravaged by a force 10 gale accompanied by heavy rain, thunder and lightening. On this fateful night a train of six carriages carrying 75 passengers and train crew travelled ever closer to the Tay Bridge spanning the Firth of Tay. The train had entered the bridge, opened just 19 months previously, at approximately 7.15pm and was travelling along the single track towards the centre.... The bridge was all but 2 miles in length and the trains progress in such conditions would have been slow and for the crew and passengers somewhat frightening. There were 85 spans and at the time this was the longest bridge in the world. As the train reached the "High Girders", a set of 13 spans across the main navigation channel in the Firth some 88 feet below, the storm was reaching it's height and disaster struck. The "High Girders" collapsed under the inexorable onslaught of the winds buffeting the bridge at right angles to the train. The entire train ran off the last remaining section and plummeted to the raging Firth below. There were no survivors from the train to tell their frightening tale. However there were numerous first hand witness accounts of that fateful night, many of whom were called before the Official Enquiry Andre Gren has studied the Paliamentary archives in detail combined with newspaper reports and local archives to tell the story of this fatefull night from the witnesses perspective. He has uncovered a considerable number of hitherto unlinked factors surrounding the events of this fateful night. Cross referencing of individual accounts reveal a clearer picture of a night that has never been forgotten and is still to this day the subject of much speculation and discussion. André Gren originates from Bradford but has lived for sixteen years in Newbury with his wife and two sons. Having gained a first class history degree at Oxford University, he went on to work in the House of Commons before a car accident forced him to leave Parliamnet in 1984. |
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THE BRIDGE IS DOWN
The Tay Bridge Disaster of 1879 By André Gren £16.99 ISBN: 978 1 85794 269 9 |
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| Format: Softback • Size: 234 x 153mm • Extent: 176pp • Illustrations: c8pp b/w |
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Silver Link Publishing Ltd
• The Trundle • Ringstead Road • Great Addington • Northamptonshire • NN14 4BW • Telephone/Fax: 01536 330588 • Email: sales@nostalgiacollection.com |
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