Famous Bridges 21 



In January, 1890, the bridge was practic- 

 ally complete, and to test it thoroughly two 

 goods trains, weighing with their engines 

 no less than 1,800 tons, were run into the 

 centre of the bridge, and there left for a 

 time for a thorough testing. If the bridge 

 would show no deviation from truth with 

 such a load as this it was obvious that it 

 could be opened for traffic within a short 

 time. For some reason it was not deemed 

 advisable to run these goods trains right 

 across from side to side, but three days 

 later on the 24th of January a passenger 

 train with the directors, friends and staff 

 crossed safely, the locomotive being driven 

 by the Marchioness of Tweeddale. Followed 

 the official tests by the Board of Trade 

 during the middle portion of February, 

 and then came the official opening by the 

 Prince of Wales, later King Edward the 

 Seventh. 



In this great bridge there are 52,250 tons 

 of steel and thousands of tons of masonry. 

 The whole of the metal-work requires re- 

 painting once in three years, and to enable 



