Solway Junction Railway

Solway Junction Railway
Solway Viaduct - Solway Junction Railway
Overview
LocaleScotland
Continues asCaledonian Railway
History
Opened13 September 1869
Closed27 April 1931
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Map of the Solway Junction Railway
(Aston & Barrie, 1932; p.28)
Solway Junction Railway
Kirtlebridge
Annan Shawhill
Annan
Solway Viaduct over Solway Firth 
Scotland
England
Bowness
Whitrigg
Kirkbride Junction
Sleightholme
Abbey Junction
Bromfield
Brayton

The Solway Junction Railway was built by an independent railway company to shorten the route from ironstone mines in Cumberland to ironworks in Lanarkshire and Ayrshire.

It opened in 1869, and it involved a viaduct 1 mile 8 chains (1.8 km) long crossing the Solway Firth, as well as approach lines connecting existing railways on both sides.

The viaduct was susceptible to damage from floating ice sheets, and the rising cost of repairs and maintenance, and falling traffic volumes as the Cumberland fields became uncompetitive, led to closure of the viaduct in 1921. The viaduct and the connecting railways were dismantled, and now only the shore embankments remain.