Brompton-on-Swale bridge
Brompton-on-Swale bridge
Comprising three spans with lattice girder trusses, the single-track bridge over the river at Brompton-on-Swale formerly carried the Catterick Camp Military Railway, a branch of the York & North Midland’s line into Richmond.
A relatively late addition to the network, the line opened in 1915 as a narrow gauge line and converted to standard gauge one year later. Originally it shared the Great North Road’s bridge (now the A6136) to cross the River Swale, rising up on an embankment to road height. This arrangement continued until 1922 when the Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company erected a separate structure.
The LNER took the railway over in 1923. Passenger trains were withdrawn in October 1964 but freight continued to traverse the bridge for another five years. Since closure, pipelines have been installed across its deck.
On 13th October 2012, the bridge re-entered public service when Sustrans opened a foot and cycle route across it as part of the Connect2 scheme. This was prompted by the poor pedestrian provision on the adjacent road bridge.
November 2012