Photo courtesy of Dundee City Council

On the night of the 28th December, 1879, in the midst of a terrifying storm, the thirteen ‘high girders’ of the railway bridge across the Tay collapsed into the river below, carrying with them an entire train, with some 75 passengers and crew. There were no survivors. In the ensuing enquiry, a shocked nation heard of faults in design, and failures of construction and maintenance, for all of which the designer of the bridge, Sir Thomas Bouch, was officially blamed. In this illustrated talk, David Swinfen considers the issues of causation and responsibility, in the context of the ‘Battle for the North’ between the great rival railway companies of the day.

 

Dundee WestFest is supported by:

Scottish Charity SC041056