General view of section of standard gauge railway

Description General view of section of standard gauge railway

Date 1890

Collection Records of Bedford Lemere and Company, photographers, London, England

Catalogue Number SC 730404

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of BL 10346/6

Scope and Content Section of Railway Line, Greenock to Gourock Railway, Greenock, Inverclyde The Greenock to Gourock Railway, built by the Caledonian Railway Company in order to connect their rail terminal at Greenock with their new railway steamer interchange at Gourock Pier, Kempock Point, was completed in 1889. The architectural photographer, Harry Bedford Lemere, was commissioned to photograph the line in 1890. This section of standard gauge railway track has a drainage ditch (left) running alongside to drain excess rainwater from the track. A section of stone-built retaining wall, designed to prevent earth-slides onto the line, follows the contours of the embankment (centre). Discoloration, caused by the soot and dirt of the steam engines passing under the stone road bridge, can be seen on the arch of the bridge. By the late Victorian era, railway systems, operated by a large number of different railway companies, stretched across the country. Although the steam engines were dirty and noisy, and the railway embankments and cuttings altered and scarred the landscape, the railway allowed, for the first time, people and goods to be carried long distances in vast quantities at undreamed-of speeds. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

External Reference BL 10346/6

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/730404

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap