29-641: The Alloa Railway was intended to bridge the River Forth linking Alloa with the south without using a ferry. The railway was authorised on 11 August 1879, it started from a new junction, Dunmore Junction, on the South Alloa branch of the Scottish Central Section of the Caledonian Railway located approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Alloa Junction. It was 3 miles (4.8 km) long, with
58-516: A German warship, surrendered at the end of the First World War, broke free from its moorings and crashed into the bridge. The damage was serious enough to close the bridge to rail traffic until March 1921. As a result of these incidents, three stone piers were replaced by cast iron ones and additional cross-bracing was added to all piers. Throughout its existence the bridge had carried passenger and freight traffic, but both gradually declined and in
87-402: A horizontal curvature of 865 metres (43 chains ). The span of the swing bridge was 44 metres, providing a clear opening of 19 metres for river vessels on each side of a steam-powered, rotating, central pier that housed a cabin structure to allow operation of the steam engine. The central pier of the rotating span was protected by a timber cutwater that projected 43 metres up and down river. When
116-504: A swing bridge over River Forth , and terminated at a piece of vacant ground in the town of Alloa, on the west side of the private road leading from Craigward Place to Bass Crest Brewery , about 230 metres short of the final point of termination. From the beginning the CR supported the railway financially, they entered into agreements for the maintenance, management and working of the railway, and had those arrangements approved by Parliament. In 1884
145-535: The Alloa Swing Bridge , previously connected Alloa on the northern shore with Throsk on the southern shore. It opened in 1885 and was closed and mostly demolished in 1970: Only the metal piers remain. Much further downstream, joining North Queensferry and South Queensferry , is another railway bridge, the famous Forth Bridge , which opened in 1890, and the Forth Road Bridge , which opened in 1964. To
174-782: The Bannock Burn from the south before passing the town of Fallin . It then passes two towns in Clackmannanshire : firstly Cambus (where it is joined by the River Devon ), closely followed by Alloa . Upon reaching Airth (on the river's south shore) and Kincardine (on its north shore), the river begins to widen and becomes the Firth of Forth . The banks have many settlements along them, including Aberfoyle , Gargunnock , Stirling , Fallin , Cambus , Throsk , Alloa , South Alloa , Dunmore , Airth , and Kincardine . Beyond these settlements,
203-660: The Duchray Water , which meets with Avondhu River coming from Loch Ard . The confluence of these two streams is the nominal start of the River Forth. From there it flows roughly eastward through Aberfoyle , joining with the Kelty Water about 5 km further downstream. It then flows into the flat expanse of the Carse of Stirling, including Flanders Moss . Just west of the M9, it is joined by
232-566: The River Teith (which itself drains Loch Venachar , Loch Lubnaig , Loch Achray , Loch Katrine , and Loch Voil ). The next tributary is the Allan Water , just east of the M9. From there the Forth meanders into the ancient port of Stirling. At Stirling the river widens and becomes tidal . This is the location of the last (seasonal) ford of the river. From Stirling, the Forth flows east, accepting
261-571: The CR absorbed the Alloa Railway before the line had been completed. The Act authorising the absorption of the Alloa Railway also provided for an extension of one furlong one chain and eleven yards (231 metres) from the planned terminus in Alloa so that the line now terminated on the western side of Glasshouse Loan. The major civil engineering construction on the line was the Alloa Swing Bridge, this
290-534: The CR and the NBR. The NBR gave the CR access to its station in Alloa via the Alloa Junction Loop and the section of the line from there to Alloa station, they also agreed to contribute towards the doubling of the rest of the line, in exchange the CR gave the NBR access to the Alloa Railway and its former Scottish Central Line as far as the junction with the NBR at Greenhill. To accommodate the CR at its Alloa station
319-583: The Caledonian, except where it had running powers (between Perth and Hilton Junction and over the Alloa bridge section). Express passenger and goods services were brought over the line. Use of the route by NBR goods trains was especially heavy between the opening of the (Second) Tay Bridge and the opening of the Forth Bridge , for services from Dundee southwards. During the First World war Bandeath Munitions Depot
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#1732851448187348-471: The NBR firstly opened a new goods station on 21 September 1885 to the east of Glasshouse Loan on the Harbour branch in order to create some space at the passenger station, it also undertook some alterations to the station itself prior to a major rebuilding scheduled for the following few years. The CR opened its own goods station on the site mentioned above, on the western side of Glasshouse Loan, directly opposite
377-551: The NBR one. The CR set up its own passenger booking office at Alloa station, in what had formerly been the parcel office. The Caledonian line and the North British connecting line both opened on 1 October 1885, there were no stations opened on the line at this time. The Edinburgh Evening News reported the first train: To-day the new Alloa Railway and Bridge were opened for traffic by the Caledonian and North British Railway Companies. The first train which left Alloa N.B. station for
406-507: The Teith and Allan, the river becomes wide enough that a substantial bridge is required. At Stirling, there has been a bridge over the river since at least the 13th century, and it was the easternmost road crossing until 1936, when another road crossing was opened at Kincardine . The Clackmannanshire Bridge , just upstream of the Kincardine Bridge, opened on 19 November 2008. A railway bridge,
435-408: The district superintendent accompanied the train. The N.B. Company have running powers over this new line which considerably shortens the distance to Glasgow, the time occupied in the run between Alloa and Glasgow being now one hour. Throsk station opened to the south of the swing bridge in 1890. The NBR made full use of the running powers, which gave it a viable route from Perth to Glasgow avoiding
464-431: The few agricultural merchants who were based at Stirling. Today, Stirling's harbour has fallen into disuse, but there are plans to redevelop it. Upstream from Stirling, the river is rather narrow and can be crossed in numerous places. (Crossing used to be more difficult before the installation of modern drainage works, because the ground was often treacherously marshy near the riverbank.) However, after its confluence with
493-412: The new bridge line was a Caledonian one, consisting of three new carriages having all the latest improvements and fitted with gas tanks, so that the gas light will be supplied in place of the old oil lamps. A large number of people witnessed the departure of the train, which had about a dozen passengers, most of whom intended going to Larbert junction and return with the following train. Mr Gillespie, Perth,
522-435: The new focus, and so a lot of trade activity shifted from Stirling in the east to the port of Glasgow in the west. During World Wars I and II, Stirling harbour began thriving again: It became a gateway for importing supplies of tea into Scotland. After the wars, other trade activities slowly returned, but growth was slow because the harbour's owners levied heavy shore duties on shipping, making it less economically attractive to
551-532: The structure are available from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland . The bridge was damaged by collisions on at least three occasions. In 1899, gales drove a sailing ship against one of the piers. In October 1904, a schooner also collided with one of the piers as it passed through the swing span, displacing some girders. Rail traffic was suspended until June 1905. In August 1920,
580-400: The swing bridge was opened for river traffic, the ends of the rotating span were supported by structures at each end of the cutwater. The deck of the bridge was at a level of 7 metres above high water level and was supported on piers, each consisting of two stone columns connected by ironwork at top and base. Several aerial and deck level photographs of the bridge that illustrate the layout of
609-553: The upper reach of the river, above Stirling , is Abhainn Dubh , meaning "black river". The name for the river below the tidal reach (just past where it is crossed by the M9 motorway) is Uisge For . Forth derives from Proto-Celtic *Vo-rit-ia (slow running), yielding Foirthe in Old Gaelic. The Forth rises in the Trossachs , a mountainous area 30 km (19 mi) west of Stirling . Ben Lomond 's eastern slopes drain into
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#1732851448187638-625: The water turns brackish, and is usually considered part of the Firth of Forth. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Stirling harbour was a busy port, with goods coming into Scotland and being exported to Europe. As a result, Stirling had very close ties with the Hansa towns, with Bruges in Belgium , and with Veere (known at the time as Campvere) in the Netherlands . After 1707, trade with America became
667-592: The west of the Forth Road Bridge is Queensferry Crossing , construction of which began in 2011: It finally opened on 4 September 2017. There are a total of 24 bridges crossing the River Forth: Two islands (known as "inches") lie in the meandering estuarine waters downstream from Stirling : Tullibody Inch , near Cambus , and Alloa Inch , near Alloa . Both islands are fairly small, and are uninhabited. Alloa Swing Bridge The Alloa Swing Bridge
696-720: Was a railway swing bridge across the River Forth that connected Throsk and Alloa as part of the Alloa Railway . The structure was in use from 1885 until 1968. The Alloa Railway obtained authority through an Act of Parliament on 11 August 1879 to open a section of line linking the South Alloa Branch of the Scottish Central Railway to Alloa . The new line was also connected to the North British Railway and both opened on 1 October 1885. The rail line
725-423: Was a railway swing bridge across the River Forth. The structure was in use until 1968 and was demolished in 1971. The connecting line between Alloa West junction and Longcarse junction (called the Alloa Junction Loop on OS maps) belonged to the North British Railway (NBR) and as such it was authorised by a different act of Parliament, this act was also used to confirm the reciprocal running powers agreement between
754-466: Was double track except for the bridge crossing, which was single track. The swing bridge design was necessary to allow the passage of shipping up and downstream at a time when Stirling was still an active port. The bridge was designed by the consulting civil engineers, Crouch and Hogg, and built by contractors Watt and Wilson, both of Glasgow. The bridge was designed as a 492 metre long (1,615 feet ), multi-span, wrought-iron, bow-girder structure, with
783-467: Was established on the peninsula to the west of the swing bridge, it had rail access from a junction to the south of the bridge, between it and Throsk station. British Railways added a second connection from Longcarse Junction to Alloa Marshalling Yard (parallel with the S&;D line) in 1957. This made the turntable at Alloa passenger station redundant. The line closed in stages, firstly the passenger service
812-582: Was mostly demolished on 8 February 1971, the piers remain as wildlife havens sheltering cormorants. Then on 1 April 1978 the remaining southerly section from Throsk to Alloa Junction closed. River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, 47 km (29 mi) long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland 's Central Belt . The Gaelic name for
841-480: Was withdrawn on 29 January 1968. The section from Longcarse Junction to the junction for the RNAD at Throsk, including the swing bridge , closed completely on 6 May 1968. The line may have been closed to all traffic but it was retained until the bridge was fixed in the open position on 18 May 1970, at this time it finally closed together with the section between Longcarse Junction and Alloa West Junction. The Alloa Swing Bridge
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