History of The Forth Rail Bridge

On 4th March 1890 the steel cantilever bridge designed by John Fowler was formally opened by the Prince of Wales who went on to become Kind Edward VII. The Prince placed the final Golden Rivet and with this declared the bridge open. The bridge spans the Firth of Forth and begins nine miles from Edinburgh City centre. It has become one of Scotland's most famous and most-loved landmarks.

The bridge had a set criteria when being planned. It had to be strong enough to withstand the weight of extremely heavy trains and the ferocious Scottish winds, yet had to be tall enough to allow large ships to pass underneath. Due to this, the Bridge required ten times the amount of metal as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and the rail track was constructed 150ft above the water.

Until recently, it took a team of painters over three years to apply the Forth Bridge’s famous red coating of paint. It was claimed that following each completion the paint at the other end of the bridge would have began to wear off and the team would need to go back and start all over again.

In 2016 a new bridge, The Queensferry Crossing is to join the Forth Rail and Forth Road bridges spanning across the Firth of Forth this is to replace the current road bridge which will remain as a public transport link.

Happy 125th Birthday from everyone here at ScotlandShop to our much loved Forth Rail Bridge!