The Solway Junction Railway was built by an independent railway company, in 1869 to shorten the route between ironstone mines in Cumberland to ironworks in Lanarkshire and Ayrshire. By the early 1860s, over 100,000 tons of iron ore was being shipped annually from West Cumberland to Scotland.

The one mile 176 yard long iron girder viaduct across the water was damaged by an ice build-up in 1875 and again in 1881. It was repaired and continued in use until 1914 for passengers, and until 1921 for freight, and was finally demolished in 1934.

Apparently, part of the reason was that Scots, who then had no access to alcohol on Sundays, used to walk across to the more liberal English side, and returning in a less than sober state occasionally fell into the Solway, and were lost.

The Solway Junction Railway appears in our Complete Guide to Visiting Bowness-on-Solway!

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