So its a model railway site, why blog about research? Well, research is half the fun of building a model and while doing it you find out about all sorts of interesting things. Even if you don’t end up building the model it is still an important part of the hobby as a whole.

Anyway, I mentioned last week that I fancied building the elevated section across the window based on the L&D at Bowling Harbour. Research starts with maps, drawings, photos and descriptions. But if possible nothing beats actually going to see, measure and photograph the real thing. So myself and the Caledonian pup sallied forth to have a closer look.

So, a bit of a general view. The swing bridge is under the big white cover, currently undergoing repairs and restoration. The whole section of the line is now a walkway / cycleroute, part of the route all the way along the north clyde, and well worth a day out.

The viaduct was built in the early 1890s, so a first guess would be that it be built in the local red sandstone. A closer look shows that it is a mass concrete structure, with powdered sandstone used as a colouring. An excellent set of guides to historic buildings in Scotland is available at;

https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/publications/?audience=7&publication_type=41&q=Short+guide

Many are interesting in their own right, but the salient point is that Bowling Harbour viaduct would have been one of the earliest mass concrete railway works.

So a closer look, thats 3 colours of concrete.



A view of the underside of an arch, the “day joint” can be seen where water has seeped through.



From the end, shows the concrete parapet. Just a selection of the 60 + pictures I took.



So all I have to do now is build a model of it. Well based on it.

All in all a good day out, goes to show that railway modelling is more than just sitting in the house making things.