Forth Bridges
Wednesday, 22nd June 2005 by Alex Turnbull
As the Google Sightseeing team is based in Edinburgh, this was one of the first places we looked when we found out about Google Maps' new satellite images. Disappointingly however, they seem to have missed most of Edinburgh when they were choosing high-resolution pictures, in fact Glasgow has also suffered a similar fate!
Fortunately however we can still see the splendid Forth Bridge, complete with a train travelling into Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is commonly regarded as an engineering marvel. Just to the west of the rail bridge is the Forth Road Bridge which, while much less impressive than the rail bridge from the ground, has some excellent shadows from up here!
There's a commonly believed story round these parts that the Forth Rail Bridge requires continual painting; as soon as they finish the job they have to start again at the other side. Apparently it's not true, but for many years the bridge did have a permanent maintenance crew.
There's also a tanker anchored in the Firth of Forth, although it's a bit weird looking at a tanker so near to where I live. I guess somehow I didn't imagine tankers would be just the same over here...
Thanks to Kerry for pointing me towards this one first, and to the many others who posted it since! 😀
About the author
Alex has decided that his title will be Senior Vice President of Stuff.
That doesnt seem to be a train – it looks like a big piece of white scaffolding- its too big to be a train.
As a kid, I always thought the name Firth of Forth was about the coolest name of any geographical object, ever.
“There’s a commonly believed story round these parts that the Forth Rail Bridge requires continual painting; as soon as they finish the job they have to start again at the other side”
They say the same about the Golden Gate.
The tanker in the Firth of Forth is unloading/loading crude oil from the Grangemouth Refinery. It’s quite a common site from the Bridge.
I noticed that yesterday, I went looking for Edinburgh and was sad to see that not much is covered! I was only there for a couple of days but it was one of my favorite places that I visited while in Europe.
Sat is correct. I left Edinburgh in 2003 but for the several years I was there, extensive maintenance was being carried out on the bridge. Incidentally, the the rail bridge was built where the old ferry ran from (the towns on either bank are North and South Queensferry, respectively). For those of a literary bent, the building opposite the slipway in South Queensferry (just west of the rail bridge) is the Hawse Inn, where Robert Louis Stevenson was reputedly inspired to write “Kidnapped”. They do pretty good food there.
you’re not the only one to discover that your town isn’t well photographed … my town Berlin, Germany is even almost impossible to view properly, though there is much more accurate (and recent) photographic material around someplace else on the web. i hope somehow google manages to get the best image material together in the long run …
How they managed to get images of Scotland on a cloudless day is really the most amazing thing.
The ship is loading Crude oil at Hound Point. The Oil is supplied from the Dalmeny Tank Farm. If you head south from the ship you will see the shore tanks. From ground level you will not see them as it looks like a hill.