Thousands expected to honour victims of the Tay Rail Bridge Disaster

Thousands of spectators are expected to line up along the Tay to watch a massive fireworks display in honour of the victims of Scotland’s worst rail disaster.

Memorials to the victims of the Tay Rail Bridge Disaster have been unveiled on Dundee Riverside and at Wormit Bay in Fife.

The granite blocks have been inscribed with the names of the 59 people who died when the bridge collapsed in high winds on December 28 1879.

Commemorations will conclude at 7.15pm when the fireworks display begins. The fireworks will be launched from a platform in the middle of the Tay.

Winds are only forecast to reach 19mph so organisers are confident the display will go ahead as planned.

Tay Bridgehead councillor Bill Connor, a member of the Tay Rail Bridge Disaster Memorial Trust, said: “On the Dundee side we are expecting a few thousand spectators.”

“The wind is only expected to reach 19mph, but with anything between 30mph and 50mph we should be able to go ahead by changing the firing point.”