It has been just a few weeks since our ‘bridge bashing’ series, but unless this has been an exceptional seven days, there have been a further twenty-five strikes. None of them were like this though. It’s not every week that the British armed forces are caught out, taking out a bridge in Scotland. Taking out three in fact. In the light of those startling Network Rail figures, maybe this is worth a mention, harking back to the milder, brighter days of summer.

The UK Ministry of Defence has a special department for covert operations, especially behind enemy lines. However, the last time Scotland was an enemy aggressor, was in 1746. So it came as some surprise to find that the MoD had “taken out” the Highland Main Line. Have the Clans risen up once again? Not really, but they might have some difficulty getting to the shops, after a military train, just a bit too big for its army boots, ‘bashed a bridge’ and had the generals sounding retreat.

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Now this was all back in June, but worth a mention for its unusual, almost unique circumstances. A special intermodal working heading for a British Army base in the north of Scotland, hit three bridges north of Perth, bringing services between there and Inverness to a standstill.

Some of the load was boxed in high cube containers, for which the Highland Main Line is not normally gauge cleared. Suggestions are that a loading error or a manifest mismanagement may have been the cause of the problem – rather than special military operations.

Bridge Bashing Army Style

“Earlier today, a container on a freight train came into contact with three bridges over the railway between Perth – Dunkeld”, said Network Rail in Scotland at the time. “The Highland Main Line has been closed as a safety precaution while engineers inspect the structures for any damage.”

Whether Network Rail in Scotland knew the nature of the disruption, and were told to play down the involvement of an armed forces train, is not clear. However no such secrecy was afforded to the MoD by contributors to social media.

Military train-ing to be revised?

Although not frequent, military trains are occasionally spotted on the UK network. Movements in Scotland usually involve regiments relocating to training grounds in the south of England. This movement was in a northerly direction however, and its purpose has not been revealed.

“4S99 Carlisle to Inverness with 66712 in charge arriving in Perth at 9.05 am”, said one war correspondent. “The fun would start one hour and fifteen minutes later when it departed north. Note the two higher containers near the end of the train plus the last three empty wagons which could have taken the higher containers.”

Unsurprisingly, the Ministry of Defence has not commented. Network Rail continues to report around five bridge strikes every day, most of them not involving military action.