Confirming a West Highland Railway viaduct legend
by Professor Roland Paxton MBE
06 October 2008
Glenfinnan Viaduct – Mallaig King Pier (left) Fort William King Pier (right)
© R. Paxton
A picture caption on p42 of the October 2008 issue of Modern Railways perpetuated a myth that there is a horse and cart entombed in Glenfinnan viaduct. This article puts the record straight
In 1984, when recording the 21-arch, mass-concrete, Glenfinnan Viaduct for the Institution of Civil Engineers' Panel for Historical Engineering Works, the legend of a Robert McAlpine horse and cart being buried in a pier after an accident during construction in c1898 aroused my curiosity. Only two piers might possibly contain the remains, the so-called 'King' piers (from the west, the 8th or 'Mallaig' and the 13th or 'Fort William'), both about 15ft wide, the other piers being much too narrow (see fig.).
In c1986 Railtrack determined the thickness of Glenfinnan Viaduct's King pier construction by means of an inspection hole made near the base of each. The walls were found to be about 4ft thick bounding a tall central cavity about 7ft x 12ft in plan.
Loch-nan-Uamh Viaduct – Location and remains of horse and cart.
Crown copyright RCAHMS Broadsheet 10 (excerpt)
In 1987 I pursued my quest by means of these inspection holes through the goodwill of Railtrack and the generous sponsorship and contribution, via Michael Jones, of the work of Noslen Access Co. (Geoff Nelson). Equipment involving a fish-eye lens camera mounted on a long pole was specially devised. The camera was then inserted via the inspection hole into each pier cavity and photographs taken at 45º intervals i.e. from 0º (vertical) clockwise to 315º. The results, now published for the first time, (see pages 2 & 3) comprise a central vertical image flanked by images taken at 45º. But, disappointingly, they did not show any evidence of a horse and cart, although it was of interest that some upper timberwork left in place after construction still remained.
This outcome laid the legend for me, until learning from Dr Jim Shipway, great grandson of the viaduct's designer, Alexander Simpson, that Ewen Macmillan of Borrodale remembered from local hearsay in his father's time that the accident had occurred at Loch-nan-Uamh Viaduct!
My attention now turned to Loch-nan-Uamh Viaduct, where the centre pier was the only one large enough to have accommodated the remains of a horse and cart. In 1994, having experienced the value of radar scanning I commissioned from scientist Dr Colin Stove in determining hidden ground conditions at Laigh Milton Viaduct, Ayrshire, it seemed worth trying the technique here. Some preliminary work was done in 1997. But, before embarking on what was a truly difficult and unprecedented operation, an inspection hole was made in the pier wall with a view to possible camera investigation. Unfortunately, the cavity had been infilled with rubble!
Undeterred, on 7th April 2001 a joint state-of-the-art radar scanning exercise was carried out by Radar World (Colin and Gordon Stove and Michael Robinson) and myself, sponsored by Sir Robert McAlpine through the good offices of Sir William McAlpine Bt. It required 11 hours of intensive site work involving the transmission of radio waves through walls up to 9ft thick, and the monitoring and interpretation of their passage.
Plaque at viaduct & Glenfinnan Station Museum unveiled on 24 July 2008.
© S. Hawkin
Amazingly, analysis of the data revealed the remains of the horse, propped vertically against the east wall of the cavity above the wreck of the cart (see fig.). This seems consistent with the horse having been dragged down into the cavity from about track bed level as the viaduct was nearing completion by a loaded stone cart.
The outcome of this fascinating quest has been recorded for posterity on identical plaques at Glenfinnan Station Museum and Loch-nan-Uamh Viaduct unveiled by Sir William McAlpine Bt. on 24th July 2008.
The whole project has been possible only through the generous sponsorship and support of the people and organisations mentioned above and in the plaquing programme, and those present at the unveilings. On behalf of the Institution of Civil Engineers I express my gratitude and thanks to everyone involved.
School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS. 24th July 2008
Further Reading:
RCAHMS Broadsheet 10 The Mallaig Railway. Edinburgh, 2002.
R. Paxton & J. Shipway, Civil Engineering Heritage Scotland Highlandsand
Islands. Thomas Telford Ltd., London, 2007. 184-188.
Copyright © 2008 Modern Railways Magazine