Scotswood Tyne former rail bridge

[thenorthern]

Haha aye. Be confusing for outsiders visiting the area.

To add to the fun, 'Gateshead Metro' is in the town centre. And a bus runs between the two.

To be fair the whole Newcastle/Gateshead thing is quite confusing to outsiders and people from Gateshead are very protective of their identity. Gateshead is not Newcastle.

This creates the awkward situation where many things associated with Newcastle such as the MetroCentre, the Angel of the North, the Sage, Paul Gascoigne, half of Tyne Bridge and half of the Gateshead Millennium Bridge (which I assume the council deliberately added the Gateshead prefix) are not in Newcastle but Gateshead.

 

[realnovice]

Lived in Newcastle for a few years but not a native. I understand Gateshead's protectiveness over their monuments but wish there was a common authority over the area so much would get done! In the case of the Scotswood Rail Bridge I would love it to be back in service but I'd say there is more demand down river Dunston and Newcastle Business Park area for a bridge (road/rail).

 

[xotGD]

To be fair the whole Newcastle/Gateshead thing is quite confusing to outsiders and people from Gateshead are very protective of their identity. Gateshead is not Newcastle.

This creates the awkward situation where many things associated with Newcastle such as the MetroCentre, the Angel of the North, the Sage, Paul Gascoigne, half of Tyne Bridge and half of the Gateshead Millennium Bridge (which I assume the council deliberately added the Gateshead prefix) are not in Newcastle but Gateshead.

I remember reading that back in the day the boundary between Gateshead and Newcastle was a third of the way across the river.

Straying even further off topic, unlike Newcastle and the rest of Northumberland we have a first class cricket team.

 

[thenorthern]

Looking at the proposals to expand the Tyne and Wear Metro the proposed line to the MetroCentre comes out of Newcastle Central Station then runs through Scotswood and then crosses the Tyne near the MetroCentre which would indicate they may want to reuse the Bridge.

Problem is it's been "proposed" for nearly 40 years now and with the Tyne and Wear Metro expansions seem to be proposed but never happen.

 

[swt_passenger]

Looking at the proposals to expand the Tyne and Wear Metro the proposed line to the MetroCentre comes out of Newcastle Central Station then runs through Scotswood and then crosses the Tyne near the MetroCentre which would indicate they may want to reuse the Bridge.

Really? The bridge we‘re discussing is well upstream of the Metro Centre, I‘m pretty sure such proposals for the Metro involved another new bridge about a mile downstream? The existing (now pipe) bridge aims towards the south west diagonally across the river, specifically to ease the curves needed if heading towards the west. It wouldn’t be much help at all if heading towards the Metro Centre.

But then wasn’t the original question only about potential use as a pedestrian and cycle bridge? I suspect rail use is pretty much out of the question given changes to the general landscape through Scotswood.

 

[flymo]

I grew up in Lemington about 1½ miles from this rail bridge and went over it many times by rail, always gave me the shivers when crossing it. There were all sorts of stories about it over the years such as being on the verge of falling down, its the pipes holding the bridge up not the bridge holding the pipes etc. 'Explored' it of course after the trains were withdrawn and line closed, wish I'd took photos.

Still remember HSTs and other 'big' stuff (bigger than the usual DMU) going over it during the Penmanshiel accident and the 21 bus racing an HST along Scotswood Road where the train line ran parallel to by Paradise bridge. The train won by the way...

I also remember the plans to use the old line to Scotswood as far as what is now the Business Park and a new bridge crossing the Tyne there. It was then proposed to use one or 2 dedicated west end bays to run a frequent shuttle to the MetroCentre. It would only be about 2 miles from there.