Culloden Moor and surrounding
Beyond the `45

The viaduct


Culloden viaduct , also known as Clava viaduct or Nairn viaduct.

Culloden viaduct is an Impressive structure that spans the Nairn Valley and is built on a curve. Each side of the viaduct is highly banked on the approaches. 

It was designed by Murdoch Paterson and was opened in 1898. The viaduct is the largest of its kind in Scotland with a length of almost 1800 feet. It is built from Sandstone and has 28 arches that are 50 feet wide each with the only exception being the arch that spans the river Nairn, which is 100 feet wide.

It is crossed many times a day by all rail traffic heading to Inverness,  the capital of the Highlands from the Southern stations of Scotlands rail network.

Used by both commuter trains and freight trains, it is well worth a look at if you are anywhere near. 

You can see from this ariel photograph that the Southern end of the viaduct (to the right of the photo) is rock as opposed to the grass banking that is on the North side. This is due to thousands of tons of hardcore and rock being used to support the banking that suffered quite badly some years ago from land slides. 

The viaduct lies to the East of Culloden battlefield and Balnaraun of Clava or Clava Cairns. It has category A listed status. Over the years there have been thousands of trains that have travelled the length of the viaduct. Although not a big train fan it is quite impressive to watch a steam engine cross.