Loch Ken Viaduct

NX67SE 9 68390 70349

Loch Ken Viaduct [NAT]

OS 1:10,000 map, 1982.

Ken Viaduct: this viaduct was built on a curve, carried the Wigtownshire Rly over the River Dee, and was one of the principal engineering features of the line. It comprised three main spans of 138ft [42.1m] each, and of wrought-iron lattice-girder construction with overhead cross-bracing at the centre of the span. Two stone piers supported the three spans, and the two short shore spans were of stone.

This viaduct was built under a separate contract, dated 31 March 1859 and awarded to Thomas Nelson and Co, Carlisle, at a price of £12,288 13s. The initial survey of the line (carried out by Capt H W Tyler and forwarded on 20 February 1861) expressed particular satisfaction with the design and construction of this structure.

This viaduct was the scene of an accident on 30 December 1935, when a mixed (goods and passenger) derailed at the W end of the structure. Neither injuries nor fatalities resulted, and there was apparently no damage to the viaduct itself. The subsequent inquiry reached no clear conclusion.

D L Smith 1969.

Loch Ken Viaduct: W of Parton, across narrowest part of Loch Ken. Three bowstring girder spans, with masonry piers and abutments. Built 1860 by (contractor) Thos. Nelson & Co; still standing, and can be crossed on foot, with care.

(Contemporary description from Dumfries Courier of 1 September 1859 cited in extenso),

C E J Fryer 1991.

This viaduct was built for the Portpatrick Rly and opened on 12 March 1861. There were two small approach spans on each side of the main structure which comprised three main bowstring girder spans supported by stone piers. The line closed on 14 June 1965.

M Smith 1994.

Loch Ken Viaduct. 7-span railway viaduct, by B & E Blyth, 1859-61. Roundehead outer arches bullnosed red sandstone. The three central bowed-truss spans over the loch are of iron carried on stone drums.

J Gifford 1996.

Three long wrought-iron, bowed-truss spans over the loch, with masonry approach spans, for the Portpatrick Rly - the oldest surviving bridge of its type in Scotland.

J R Hume 2000.

This viaduct carried the former Glasgow-Stranraer main line (the 'Port Road') of the Glasgow and South-Western Rly. across Loch Ken, which here forms the boundary between the parishes of Parton (to the E) and Kells (to the W). The parish boundary lies to the E of the centre of the loch.

The location assigned to this record defines the centre of the structure. The available map evidence suggests that it extends from NX c. 68305 70335 to NX c. 68478 70351.

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 14 March 2006.