Solway Junction Railway

Solway Junction Railway
Solway Viaduct - Solway Junction Railway
Overview
Locale	Scotland
Continues as	Caledonian Railway
Operation
Opened	13 September 1869
Closed	27 April 1931
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Map of the Solway Junction Railway (Aston & Barrie, 1932; p.28)

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.

In the late 1850s, business interests were concerned to improve transport facilities for iron ore being mined in the area of Canonbie, in south Dumfriesshire close to the English border. Their intention was to bring the mineral to Annan Harbour (on the north shore of the Solway Firth), from where it could be forwarded by coastal shipping. They approached James Brunlees, a civil engineer with experience of coastal works. He advised against the scheme, which would have partly duplicated the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) route, but he put them in touch with business people in Cumberland, who had engaged him to plan a railway from Cumberland iron deposits to a new harbour at Bowness, on the south shore of the Solway.

The two groups conferred, and revised their plans; they projected a railway that would cross the Solway by a viaduct, connecting existing railways on both side of the Solway. At the time there was heavy iron ore traffic from Cumberland to Lanarkshire and Ayrshire ironworks, running by rail via Carlisle and the Caledonian Railway, the Glasgow and South Western Railway, or by coastal shipping. 92,000 tons of iron ore was exported from Cumberland to Scotland in 1863. The viaduct route would save considerable mileage and avoid congestion at Carlisle. The viaduct was to be the longest in Europe, and overall the line from Kirtlebridge to Brayton would be just over 20.4 miles long - including branches the total length would be about 25 miles (40 km). Brunlees was the designing engineer for both viaduct and line.

The Parliamentary examination of the Dumfries and Cumberland (Solway Junction) Railway Bill took place in the 1864 session. The G&SWR objected to the scheme as tending to capture their traffic and divert it onto the Caledonian: this opposition was overruled, however, and the Company was authorised (as the Solway Junction Railway) on 30 June 1864, with capital of £320,000 and predicted cost of £315,000. The first chairman of the company was James Dees of Whitehaven; he was soon succeeded by Alexander Brogden. A further Act was passed in 1865 allowing deviations of the line in Cumberland. In 1866 two Bills were brought forward. A Bill for a line from Brayton to join the Whitehaven Junction at Flimby (thus making the SJR independent of the Maryport and Carlisle) did not match its advance notice and was therefore rejected by Parliament, but led to a satisfactory agreement with the M&C. An Act was also passed authorising an increase in capital of £60,000 and further borrowing of £20,000: it also permitted the North British and the G&SWR to subscribe £100,000 each, should they so wish. In 1867, a further Act was obtained; instead of running parallel to the Silloth railway (leased by the North British Railway), the Solway Junction would use running powers over it between Kirkbride and Abbey Holme. The 1867 Act (as well as removing the opening span from the viaduct design) also confirmed the agreement with the Maryport and Carlisle and allowed the Caledonian to subscribe on the same basis as the North British and the G&SWR. The Caledonian, alarmed at the possibility of the lucrative iron ore traffic being diverted off its system, acted (unlike the other companies) on the implicit invitation. In September 1867, an agreement whereby the Caledonian subscribed to £60,000 of 5% preference shares in the Solway Junction and operated the line was ratified by the shareholders of both companies.