The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732. An unusual clause in the enabling Act of Parliament stipulated that profits should be given to the County of Cheshire for the improvement of roads and bridges, but the navigation was not initially profitable, and it was 1775 before the first payments were made. Trade continued to rise, and by 1845, over £500,000 had been given to the county.
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right. Small swing bridges as found over canals may be pivoted only at one end, opening as would a gate, but require substantial underground structure to support the pivot.
The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 4 July 1838. It was opened to passenger traffic on 21 February 1842, between its Glasgow Queen Street railway station and Haymarket railway station in Edinburgh. Construction cost £1,200,000 for 46 miles (74 km). The intermediate stations were at Corstorphine, Gogar, Ratho, Winchburgh, Linlithgow, Polmont, Falkirk, Castlecary, Croy, Kirkintilloch and Bishopbriggs. There was a ticket platform at Cowlairs. The line was extended eastwards from Haymarket to North Bridge in 1846, and a joint station for connection with the North British Railway was opened on what is now Edinburgh Waverley railway station in 1847.
Laggan is a small village in the Great Glen, in the Highland region of Scotland. The older, longer Gaelic name is Lagan Achaidh Droma, "hollow at the field of the ridge".
Bridge of Orchy railway station is a railway station in the village of Bridge of Orchy in the west of Scotland. This station is on the West Highland Line. Being an island platform, access is via a subway.
The West Highland Railway was a railway company that constructed a railway line from Craigendoran to Fort William and Mallaig. The line was built through remote and difficult terrain in two stages: the section from Craigendoran to Fort William opened in 1894, with a short extension to Banavie on the Caledonian Canal opening in 1895.
The Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway was a branch-line railway built in Scotland, connecting the named places with the main line at Spean Bridge. It opened in 1903.
The Welland Canal Bridge 15 is a two-track Baltimore truss swing bridge located in the disused section of the Welland Canal within the city of Welland, Ontario. This section of canal is now known as the Welland Recreational Waterway. The bridge formerly carried the main line of the Canada Southern Railway (CASO) over the canal.
Fort William Junction is a railway junction on the West Highland Line in Scotland, located to the east of Fort William railway station. It is where the railway to Mallaig connects with the Glasgow to Fort William railway.
The Canso Canal Bridge is a rotating swing bridge in Nova Scotia, Canada. It crosses the Canso Canal at the eastern end of the Canso Causeway. The bridge carries the 2 traffic lanes of Highway 104 as well as a single track railway line operated by the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway (CBNS).
The Glen Loy Aqueduct carries the Caledonian Canal over the River Loy, near Muirshearlich, between Banavie and Gairlochy.
The Grangemouth branch railways served Grangemouth docks on the Firth of Forth, Scotland, connecting the docks to the main line railway network. The first line was opened in 1860. The docks and the branch line developed considerably, and a second branch line was opened in 1911. Grangemouth docks was exceptionally busy during World War I, supplying the Grand Fleet.
Banavie Pier railway station was the terminus of a short branch and was at first known as Banvie, opened by the North British Railway in 1895. The station's location was just above the impressive flight of locks on the Caledonian Canal known as "Neptune's Staircase", Banavie, Highland council area, Scotland.
The Biggest Little Railway in the World (BLR) was a temporary 71 mile (114 km) 1.25 inches (32 mm) O-gauge model railway from Fort William to the City of Inverness, the two largest settlements in the Scottish Highlands. It has been described as a crackpot project to run a model train the length of the Great Glen Way by an army of madcap enthusiasts, geeks, and engineers in the best spirit of eccentric Britishness.
