The Tay Bridge and Dundee Union Railway

Unless your Mastermind subject is ‘Short-lived Railway Companies of the 1860s’ you will probably never have heard of the Tay Bridge and Dundee Union Railway, but it was instrumental in turning a Tay Bridge from a dream into a reality and creating a railway route from Tayport through Newport – a small part of which was still being used 100 years later.¹

After the railway mania of the 1840s, thoughts of putting Newport on the railway map went quiet for a few years largely due to a lack of finance but also the lack of a bridge. But by the early 1860s, many influential people in Dundee thought the city deserved better railway communication with the south, and there was a much-held belief that bridging the Tay should be possible now. John Berry of Tayfield was one of 9 men² gathered in the offices of Thomas Thornton, solicitor, on 9 October 1863³ to discuss the way forward (or south!). If the major railway companies couldn’t afford to build a bridge and railway then Dundee would provide the capital itself. Plans for a bridge were most certainly on the cards.

The Tay Bridge and Dundee Union Railway was born.

Thomas Bouch was the man of the moment, but it was to be a whole year before he presented his plans for a railway and bridge across the Tay at a meeting in the Council Chamber, Dundee on 26 October 1864⁴. No doubt to the consternation of many, Bouch arrived late and entered the meeting on crutches – ‘He’s not as ill as he looks’ one of his team explained (he had previously had an accident) – but the plan he announced was the tonic that the Dundee industrialists wanted. It was for a railway from the existing station at Ferryport-on-Craig (Tayport) to Newport and then across the river on a bridge of 64 spans to arrive in Dundee just west of the Craig Pier (where Discovery is now). There was also talk of a connection to Leuchars and the south. The starting point of the bridge in Newport isn’t mentioned but from the length of the bridge I think it was to be at Craighead.

Capital of £35000 would be required and the provisional committee of the railway company included Charles Parker, Provost of Dundee; Patrick Don Swan, Provost of Kirkcaldy; W. H. Maitland Dougall of Scotscraig; John Berry of Tayfleld; Peter Christie, farmer, Scotscraig; Harry Walker, flaxspinner, Dundee; James Cox, merchant, Dundee & Joseph Grimond, manufacturer, Dundee.^5,6

What happened over the next few months was a classic example of conflicting interests between public bodies (Dundee Town Council and the Harbour Trustees especially), conflicts of interest in individuals, and strong personalities. The whole saga is described in 1878 by Albert Grothe⁷ (engineer for Hopkins, Gilkes for the first Tay Bridge), and more recently by Charles McKean⁸.

The main objection of the Harbour Trustees was that Craig Pier was too close to the harbour and the bridge might cause difficulties for shipping in the river. To overcome this, just 6 weeks later Bouch produced a revised plan which now had the railway line crossing from Woodhaven to Magdalen Point (where the present railway bridge makes landfall at Dundee). The bridge would now have 80 spans and be considerably longer. This line was duly presented to Parliament and the plans became the first ones surveyed in detail for a railway line right through Newport and over the river by bridge. Although the plans for Parliament had been changed, the proposed Bill wasn’t. This was not a problem as the proposed Bill only mentioned the end point of the railway (west of Craig Pier) and didn’t detail its route⁹.

Hostility came from many quarters – competing railway companies (desperate not to lose their existing traffic into Dundee), Perth Town Council (needing sufficient clearance under the bridge for theoretical shipping going up river), Dundee Town Council (railways on arches through the centre of the city would certainly not be acceptable, nor would the demolition of many buildings), even promenaders (who would require a public walkway over the new bridge due to the loss of the ferry)¹⁰.

Eventually, in early May 1865, the proposed railway line was abandoned¹¹ – but the seeds had been sown. Within a year the North British Railway Company published its own plans for a Tay Bridge¹², and Newport’s railway was within touching distance.

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