View of the North British Railway from the North Bridge
Drawn and engraved by T Steuart c1848

This vignette shows the Calton Jail, High School, Burns Monument and the new Gas Works chimney erected in 1847. They dominate the valley with the newly opened terminus of the North British Railway in the foreground. The building of the railway opened up the eastern approach to Edinburgh from Berwick-upon-Tweed; the Bill for its construction received the royal assent on 4 July 1844 and it opened with a fancy dress fanfare in June 1846. The old North Bridge was always an impediment to railway operations. In 1848, to get ground for a goods line through one of only three arches wide enough to take railway lines (the other two contained the five passenger lines), the old buildings round about including Trinity College Church and Hospital were demolished. An admiring crowd views the scene from the comparative safety of the North Bridge.

By courtesy of Lammerburn Press

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