Outwood Viaduct

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The west side, Radcliffe is to the left.

The viaduct has long since ceased carrying trains.

Outwood Viaduct is a Grade II listed railway viaduct crossing the River Irwell in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. It no longer carries trains, but was restored and is now open to the general public.

[edit] History

The viaduct was designed by Andrew Handyside to carry trains from the East Lancashire Railway across the River Irwell on the Clifton Junction to Bury line. The inaugural date for the original timber structure was the 25th September 1846^[1]. The superstructure was converted to cast iron in 1881 by Handyside and Company of Derby.^[2]. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway replaced the timber decking in 1923.

The closest station was Radcliffe Bridge, heading southwest to Clifton the following station was Ringley Road.

Having been closed to railway traffic in 1966, it was restored and subsequently re-opened to the general public on June 25th 1999 by Sir William McAlpine, President of the Railway Heritage Trust.

[edit] References

^ An Illustrated Historical Survey of the Railways in and around Bury by Jeffrey Wells page 115
^ Conserving the Railway Heritage by Peter Burman and Michael Stratton page 224