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The Tay Bridge, running between Wormit in Fife and Dundee, became notorious
when it tragically collapsed in 1879, killing the 75 train passengers travelling
across it. At that time it was the longest bridge in the world and to this day
its collapse remains the worst structural disaster in British history. In 1887 a
second bridge was built, and this film, shot twenty years after the disaster,
departs from Wormit station and transports the viewer from Fife to Dundee along
the bridge on an atmospheric 'phantom ride'.
The bridge is most impressive when its two and three quarter-mile track is
stretched out in front of the camera. The precise straightness of the bridge
inadvertently caused simple cuts to become curious optical tricks, particularly
the point when men suddenly appear on what was an empty
bridge.
Christian Hayes
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Complete film (4:52)
