Such beautiful railway viaducts in Great Britain Jonathan, and Europe too I suppose. I've never traveled outside of the U.S. and Canada and would love to see Europe some day.
When U.S. railroads were built, capital was short and lines were built with minimum standards into the wilderness. In Europe by contrast, capital and population were more plentiful and higher engineering standards were maintained. On many U.S. lines, it wasn't until the early years of the 20th Century that well engineered lines became more common. A number of U.S. railway line building efforts in the teens were truly magnificent feats of construction, miracles of a new age made possible with steam powered shovels, air powered rock drills, nitroglycerin, low cost steel, modern cement formulas and coffers full of cash.