THE TAY BRIDGE DISASTER in HD

this is Scotland's fourth-largest city and was once the richest city in Europe sitting on the banks of the Firth of Tay it's a city of discovery famous for its whaling its jude's jam and journalism oh and not forgetting desperate Dan and rude Willy the railway bridge travels more than two miles over the Firth of Tay and the river T discharges 207 thousand cubic feet of water per minute the river tay is the longest river in Scotland's the seventh longest river in Britain and the largest river in the UK by volume of discharge I'm here in Dundee and behind me is the second wheel we bridge to be built over the Firth of T the first bridge collapsed killing 75 people including the designers son-in-law the only survivor the locomotive but what caused the longest railway bridge in the world to collapse during a fearful storm and the answer is not as simple as designer error the tabe rige was opened on the 1st of June 1878 it was the longest where we bridge in the world and a dream come true for as designer Thomas Bouch he had been obsessed for years to build a railway bridge over the Tay he was a well-known railway engineer designing many railways and stations within Scotland even railway fairies had traumas bouches engineering skills Queen Victoria was not at the opening of the bridge but in late June 1879 she crossed the bridge on her way back to Windsor Thomas Bausch was presented to the Queen at Dundee and on the 27th of June he was sent to Windsor where he received a knighthood on the evening of the 28th of December 1879 Dundee was suffering storm force winds it's washed storm in its history roofs were being blown off chimneys were falling and full railway wagons of coal were moving in marshalling yards simply with the strength of the wind it was a tiring trip for the past years between grant and P and bond island on the ferry the storm was only hours away and the crossing fairly quiet men women and children traveling back from the Christmas festivities the 520 train from burn Island to Dundee consisted of four third class coaches one second one first a brake van and locomotive the train stopped us at fourth station then stopped at warm at signal box for its token next destination the bridge this is the grim view the people of Dundee witnessed to following morning 75 people dead but there was reports to the people of Dundee that that could have been as many as 300 people on the train and this is a famous painting of a gentleman called James Roberts he was a locomotive Foreman in Dundee and him and his friend James Smith attempted on the evening when the Train disappeared to walk across the bridge to find out why James Smith stopped short because of the winds and James Roberts carried on only to find the gap at 1915 on the 28th of December 1879 the central navigation girders of the longest railway bridge in the world collapsed into the River Tay during a violent storm news travel quickly to the north British railway headquarters in Edinburgh via Telegraph a telegram was sent to the designer Satomi's botch he was in beds alone and nobody knows his reaction but he was invited to catch a special train to Dundee to witness the worst engineering disaster of its time as Gundy in the local villages on the banks of the Tabas looking for survivors and the wreckage of the Train an investigation was put into motion by the Board of Trade as soon as the news of this catastrophe reached London three commissioners were appointed to consider the evidence they proceeded with haste knowing the whole country looked at them for an explanation for this engineering disaster the following morning before breakfast mr. Gib the postmaster hurried through the streets to the prophesize with a telegram it was from Sir Henry Paulson babe can you give me any particulars of the supporing calamity reported to have taken place the queen is inexpressibly shocked and feels most deeply for those who have lost friends and relatives in this terrible accident in his dressing gown unshaven his eyes dry from a night without sleep Provost brownie wrote in his reply telling Sir Henry all he knew all that he believed he followed the official statement made by the North bitch's railway that it deeply regrets to say that nearly 300 passengers beside the company servants were in the Train so until station agent Robert Morris came over from st. Fork station the city was grieving 300 Dead's in his pockets Morris carried 57 tickets which his staff had collective's he remembered two season ticket holders and remembered 7 or 11 passengers had retained their tickets the son was simple and quickly done Prabhas Brownlee announced a loss of 75 men women and children but who were they were the names where do they live and weirdly the Provost our stationmaster Smith to make discreet inquiries amongst a waiting crowd so Thomas budge arrived in to Dundee by special train on Monday morning he was accompanied by his son they would be unaware as he passed he Bridge station that its large refreshment rooms had been transferred and cleared for the reception of the deads he met Provost Brownlee and Harbormaster Robertson so Thomas asked if he could visit his bridge as soon as possible he was told the steamer the four Fisher would be leaving Dundee harbour at 10 o'clock a Sir Thomas saw his fallen bridge he held on to his son's arm and all around were small ships searching for survivors or bodies just before sunsets on the Monday evening after the disaster northeast of Tay ports three miles from the bridge a muscle dredger had seen a dark ship drifting between two sand banks it was the first body of a middle-aged woman the body was taken to dundies tablet station and laid in a wagon sheet in the refreshment-room there was nothing in her pockets to identify her apart from a railway ticket to brought a ferry it was the body of an Crookshanks a housemaid to lady back sir of Cal Marin an honor a woman who had ended an uneventful life by being the first body to be removed from the table disaster the enquiry team set up by the board of trades and sitting in Dundee Core House held an initial session lasting several days starting on Saturday the 3rd of January 1880 the three members cheered by Mr robbery Commissioner of regs the others were Colonel Holland's inspector of railways and mr. WH Barlow president of the Institute of civil engineers and a distinguished practicing civil engineer the second part of the enquiry was devoted for the analyst of the disaster there was three engineers appointed mr. Henry law for the enquiry and dr. William Paul and mr. Alan Stewart acting on behalf of the North British railway in addition mr. law collected samples of the column material and wrought iron samples bolts and struts for mechanical testing as well as many broken parts as could be shown an exhibit of the enquiry he asked mr. David kakari to test the samples using a hydraulic tensor meter a photographer was appointed by the commissioners from a local firm called Valentine's of Dundee later to become famous for its picture postcards the fifty photographs were taken of the remains of the bridge over a week after it collapsed these photographs were vital evidence of the way the bridge collapsed and we're off remarkably high quality so far they'd only been one body removed from the Tay that of an Crookshanks she was found to the northeast just off tape warps house made to lady Baxter but there was a rumor going round Dundee that she had been murdered in Endre and brought to tape ort and dumped in the Tay but the police found this was not true she was traveling with elseis marks a table made aged 24 and that was an true Jax's niece she'd been traveling with a fiance George Johnson but they all died in the train with Dundee trying to come to terms with this terrible disaster the charge ministers had their say God determined to guard his Sabbath with jealous care by travelling on a train on the Sabbath the body still floating somewhere in the Tay they knew they had been transgressing from God's law by this time the North British railway company would pay five pounds per body founds and all clothing and belongings found along the beaches of the Tay were taken today Bridge stations refreshment room where they were laid outs on tables hoping that relatives may identify some of the belongings the people of Dundee were now concerned that no bodies had been found except for that of an Cruikshank's and the willing fisherman started a rumor that bodies may start to float to the surface after seven or eight days and the only reason and Cruikshank sirs buddy had been found it just so happened to float onto a sand Bank and funeral was on the first day after the disaster she was mourned by the whole of Dundee great crowds followed her house she once again traveled over the Tay and was laid to rest in fine on Wednesday the tanti faster these mbar diver Simpson found the locomotives it was encased in one of the central navigation high girders you can see in this drawing that was more than just the engine there was five carriages and the brake valve and they were found all encased in the girders by now the have been a relief fund set up to help the victims it stood it's 1980 pounds and sixteen shillings monies include 500 pounds given from the North British railway company 500 from individual subscriptions from directors of companies but there was also a banker's draft check for 250 pounds signed by Thomas belch on the Tuesday morning of the 8th stayed the wailers of fishermen the muscle dredges continued the search and the TAVR bodies they were hoping that the Whalers would be correct with the fact that bodies after the AIDS Day would rise to the surface and later they were rights but that afternoon there was a cry from the river a body the crowd who had gathered in th station rushed down to the key sites one man who had been helping searching for bodies was that Evander Johnston he was a prophet of God David Johnston when he had that a body had been firmed he washed back to T bridge station the body that was found was that of a man it was taken to th station and laid on the table relatives walked past slowly seeing if he could identify then Andrew Johnston walked past the body and did not move it was his brother God David Johnston his body was not disfigured his face look natural in classic he had blood coming from his left ear his fists were clenched he had 1 pound 13 shillings and sixpence in his pockets of his uniform and his silver watch had stopped out 1960 Andrew still weeping went to find his brother's widow four more bodies were found that day and the following day the body of John Marshall was found 400 yards from the southern broken pier he had no necks of kin so was identified by the stationmaster his face was badly burned and had two deep wounds in his head he was the fireman Stoker but the end of January 33 bodies had been discovered men women and children the drivers body David Marshall was washed up nine weeks later 46 bodies found 29 still missing 29 bodies never found it was clear to the inquiry that the original designs had been changed by Thomas belch stone pillows had been changed to iron columns the bridge high girders were not fixed to the base they sat on roller bearings for expansion there was even a suggestion at the one but foundry that staff found imperfections in the iron girders and they used a substance called boom on Tegh which is like beeswax and iron filings mixed to cover the imperfections and then painting it blank so nobody would know the maximum speed of the bridge was 25 miles an hour but some past years giving evidence suggested trains were traveling as fast as 45 miles an hour this could have weakened the structure during high winds and the construction of the center high girders one collapse in the high winds and was reused not replaced when the locomotive was found we found the regulator fully opened which would suggest that the driver and the crew and the footplates didn't see the disaster coming the Train and the girders just fell from the bridge as I said earlier the only survivor of the tabe rige disaster was its engine it was sent back to Koleos in glasgow refitted and returned into service for another 45 years and the drivers named it the diver mr.brother a the chairman of the inquiry thought it better to submits his observations and his conclusions in a separate report instead of joining his colleagues mr. Holland and mr. Barlow when the three gentlemen sat down to consider their report there must have been some harsh differences between them mr. Holland did mr. Barlow were both engineers and perhaps professional sympathy or loyalty or caution made them reluctant to use harsh words not so the red commissioner mr. Henry Rothery the last body that could be found and long been removed from the day when the court of inquiry presented its report to both houses of parliament by command of Her Majesty in June 1818 the chairman of the inquiry mr.brother II laid the blame for faulty design construction and maintenance firmly at mr. bouches door the other two members didn't go that far they felt strongly enough to produce a second joint report of the disaster so why did we end up with two reports into what caused the tabe rige disaster mr. Yelland and mr. Barlow believe the san-tomás bunch had been led them by some of his contractors and some could even say betrayed all the members of the inquiry agreed to one conclusion there was a design issue with the bridge original plans have been changed stone columns changed to Island piers and one of the major design defects were the bridge in particular was its ability to withstand wind pressure at this time this was the largest railway engineering structure in the world an engineering design into the unknown the largest the highest railway bridge that would have to withstand very high winds there is no doubt that the final bridge was a wrong design for this location but at the time of building the engineering statistics suggested it could have been achievable the design of the bridge had been changed so many times leads us to only one conclusion the bridge was doomed to fail it was only a matter of time so Thomas budge trusted his advisors they took shortcuts and that is evidence the borers of the Foundation's got it wrong the caster's of the girders took shortcuts and the North British railway company did nothing to stop trains traveling over the bridge too fast and we can even be critical of the inquiry in its conclusions as vital evidence was missed and it was reported that the two members of the inquiry were furious when he found out that robbery the chairman was writing his own conclusion into the cause plus we have to remember that Sir Thomas botch had plans before the tea bridge disaster to have designed the bridge across the forth that was going to be a suspension rail bridge a design never used I mentioned in my introduction that Sir Thomas birch his son-in-law was killed in the disaster I mention it simply because there are many documents suggesting this but looking at the evidence and documents there is no records to suggest that any relative of Sir Thomas botch was killed in the disaster at the time of the growth of the railways Thomas birch was a pioneer does any many railways and stations within Scotland he lived for four months after the report destroyed him and there was no criminal proceedings against him trains were still running over the 300 miles of railways he had given Scotland and England and his team for ferries were once more in Aubrey he was laid to rest in beam Cemetery in Edinburgh aged 58 there were many lessons learned after this engineering disaster and on July the 13th 1887 a new bridge was opened designed by William Henry Barlow it's double tracks and that's the bridge we use today but during high winds trains are suspended from traveling over the bridge some new research has suggested that the death toll to the D bridge disaster was 59 and not 75 there was 46 death certificates issues and information on another 13 people and this is important research to find the final death toll to the table disaster the tailwheel Bridge disaster Memorial Trust is trying to raise money for a memorial to the victims of that free fall December evening plus I believe we should also remember the railway pioneers who built the bridges plus the boys and men who their lives they build a railway bridge across the Tay you

Channel: TheRailways007

Views: 754,645

Rating: 4.5752506 out of 5

Keywords: Tay Bridge Dundee, The Tay Bridge Disaster, Thomas Bouch, City of Dundee, Tay Port, Broughty Ferry, Dundee (City/Town/Village), ScotRail (Business Operation), East coast Railways, Rail Transport (Industry), Tay Rail Bridge (Bridge), Tay Bridge Disaster

Id: ZylivFIrIVE

Length: 24min 17sec (1457 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 08 2013