Ogley Junction – where the Anglesey Branch meets the former Wyrley & Essington mainline to Huddlesford.
Here’s a quick one I spotted locally last week: I was going to put it on my 365daysofbiking journal, but I thought it deserved a wider audience and debate – it seems the cast iron bridge at Ogley Junction, near Grasmere Gardens, was once damaged or cracked and repaired.
The damage was repaired a long, long time ago, and the repair is very evident, but I’ve never once noticed it in the hundreds of times I’ve crossed or dawdled on the bridge. From the materials used, the repair is old and must have been hard work.
The bracers fitted to the rail are highlighted: I’ve never noticed them before. They aren’t present anywhere else on the bridge. What happened? Click for a larger version.
It’s easy to spot; as one walks over the footbridge towards Chasewater from Brownhills, looking at the northwestern guard rail on the slope down, there are bracing plates bored across the webs of the casting. They look to be bolted with maybe ¾ or 1 inch bolts and big, square nuts; drilling the holes for those can’t have been fun.
What I’m asking, I guess, is what happened? Was there some accident after installation, or would Horseley Iron Works (who in all probability cast the bridge like others on the line) have sent a repaired, weak casting?
Is there any record of an accident here?
Just a bit of a curiosity, and I’m amazed I’ve never noticed it before. Please do comment here, or mail me: BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com.
