Changes

Jump to: navigation, search

Falling Sands Viaduct

729 bytes added, 10:37, 11 October 2020
additional info and history
[[File:Viaduct - geograph.org.uk - 499261.jpg | thumb|200px|right| Falling Sands Viaduct (Geograph)]]
'''Falling Sands Viaduct''' (Bridge 3) was completed in 1877 as part of the [[Kidderminster Loop Line]]. It carries the railway across the [[Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal]] Conservation Area and 64 feet above the River Stour, about a mile from [[Kidderminster]]. It is  The [[Loop Line specification and contract]] of 1874 specified that the masonry of the viaduct should be "''...of the best quality of Red Sandstone of the district''". In May 1875 the contractor Charles Dickinson wrote to the GWR explaining his difficulty in obtaining suitable stone for the piers of the viaduct and requesting the difference in price for it to be built entirely of brick, to which the GWR agreed.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Marshall (1989)]] pp. 81-82.</ref> Accordingly the viaduct was built of red brick and . It is 132 yards in length, with seven arches of 46ft span.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Marshall (1989)]] p. 92.</ref> 
The Viaduct was also numbered as Bridge 3 during the BR era; the BR-era numbering plate, which may still be seen on the northern parapet, gives its location as [[Gradient profile and mileages#Mileages|135 miles 78 chains]].
==Closure==
===Passenger services===
The last scheduled passenger service over the Viaduct viaduct was the 19:20 DMU from Bewdley to Kidderminster on Saturday 3 January 1970, with passenger services between being formally withdrawn from 5 January 1970.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Marshall (1989)]] p. 164.</ref> When the SVR acquired the southern section of the line between [[Alveley Sidings]] and [[Foley Park]], the Viaduct remained in the section of the line still owned by BR. Following the SVR's reopening of Bewdley in 1974, BR ran a number of summer weekend DMU specials between their Kidderminster station and Bewdley. One of these was photographed on the Viaduct on 11 September 1982 during that year’s Enthusiasts Weekend.<ref>SVR News 66,67</ref> The last passengers to cross the Viaduct under BR ownership were on the “Severn Valley Enterprise” rail tour from Bewdley to Paddington and back on 8 October 1983.
===Freight services===
==Preservation==
The line between Foley Park and Kidderminster, including the Viaductviaduct, was acquired from BR in 1984, with passenger services commencing on 30 July 1984.
===Repairs===By The all-brick construction of the viaduct meant that historically it had required relatively little structural maintenance when compared with the sandstone viaducts at [[Wribbenhall Viaduct|Wribbenhall]] and elsewhere. However by around 2015 it had been determined that extensive repairs were needed to secure the Viaduct. Water had seeped into the structure causing cracks and erosion, and a speed restriction became necessary.
===2016 HLF bid rejected===
Trustworthy, administrator
11,876
edits

Navigation menu