What was the Tay Bridge Rail Disaster?
Everyone who has been born and brought up in Dundee knows the story of the Tay Bridge disaster. It was a dark time in the city’s history. The Tay Bridge disaster is one of the most famous rail collapses ever recorded. At around 7:15 p.m. on 28 December 1879, a passenger train made its way across the two mile (3.2 km) long bridge towards Dundee. Neither the train nor any of its 75 passengers completed the journey. The newly built Tay Bridge had only been in use for 19 months when the disaster occurred. It had been built by Thomas Bouch, who was knighted not long after the completion of the bridge. The bridge was made of a lattice of girders supported by cast iron columns. At the time, it was the longest bridge in the world.
