Leaderfoot Viaduct

Leaderfoot Viaduct is a disused nineteenth-century railway bridge spanning the River Tweed near Melrose in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. Also known as Drygrange Viaduct, it was constructed for the Berwickshire Railway to connect the Edinburgh–Carlisle Waverley Line near St Boswells with the East Coast Main Line at Reston, passing through Greenlaw and Duns. Designed by engineers Charles Jopp and Wylie & Peddie, the viaduct was officially opened on 16 November 1863, although structural difficulties during construction delayed regular railway operations until 1865. The bridge measures approximately 276 metres (906 feet) in length and rises 38 metres (126 feet) above the river, supported by 19 semicircular brick arches resting on slender red sandstone piers. Its construction required additional reinforcement after instability was discovered in some of the foundations, and later strengthening work remains visible in the masonry. The railway was severely damaged by flooding in August 1948, ending passenger services across the viaduct, although freight trains continued to use the surviving section until 19 July 1965. By the early 1980s, the deteriorating structure was threatened with demolition, but its architectural and engineering significance led to stronger legal protection. Its listed status was upgraded to Category A in 1986, and a major restoration programme was undertaken between 1992 and 1995. Today, the viaduct stands beside the eighteenth-century Drygrange Old Bridge and the modern A68 road bridge, forming a group of three crossings sometimes referred to as Tripontium. The nearby landscape also contains the remains of Trimontium, a substantial Roman fort established around AD 80 near the village of Newstead.

Leaderfoot Viaduct has been used as a filming location in Waterboys (2016), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) and The Franchise (2024). In Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the bridge appears during the opening train sequence set in the Second World War, while The Franchise uses the viaduct and its surroundings for a disastrous fictional film shoot in Armenia. All three productions are confirmed by Film Edinburgh, the regional film commission covering the Scottish Borders.

In Waterboys (2016), a Dutch comedy-drama written and directed by Robert Jan Westdijk, Leaderfoot Viaduct was among the Scottish locations used during filming in July 2015. The film follows crime novelist Victor (Leopold Witte) and his twenty-year-old son Zack (Tim Linde), a cellist, after both experience the breakdown of their relationships. Victor takes Zack with him on a promotional trip to Scotland, where their differing personalities and attitudes towards life lead to a series of arguments and encounters. The production spent ten days filming in Edinburgh and the surrounding region, with locations including Arthur’s Seat, Channings Hotel, Surgeons’ Hall and Leaderfoot Viaduct. Producer Maarten van der Ven subsequently credited the regional film commission with helping the low-budget Dutch production find suitable Scottish locations and local crew members. Although filming at the viaduct is officially documented, the precise scene and position of the camera at the bridge have not been established.

In Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) Leaderfoot Viaduct appears during the film’s extended opening sequence, set in 1944 towards the end of the Second World War. Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and fellow archaeologist Basil Shaw (Toby Jones) are attempting to recover historical artefacts stolen by the Nazis. Their mission leads them aboard a German military train carrying looted treasures, including part of the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient device associated with the Greek mathematician Archimedes. While travelling through occupied Europe, Jones fights German soldiers and attempts to escape with Shaw before the train reaches a bridge threatened by Allied aircraft.

The bridge crossing was filmed at Leaderfoot Viaduct, with the nineteenth-century Scottish structure representing a railway bridge in continental Europe. Following a confrontation on the roof of the moving train, Jones and Shaw realise that Allied warplanes are preparing to attack the crossing. With the aircraft closing in and the train approaching the viaduct, the two men jump into the river below. The bridge is struck by the bombing, causing the railway line to collapse and sending the train plunging towards the water. Jones and Shaw survive the destruction, and the sequence ends with Jones revealing that he has managed to retain the valuable artefact despite their apparent failure to recover it.

Filming at Leaderfoot Viaduct took place in June 2021, when Harrison Ford and Toby Jones were photographed at the location. The production required extensive preparation to accommodate a large film crew around the protected railway structure and the River Tweed. According to Film Edinburgh, the local authorities and landowners worked with the location department to organise the complicated shoot. The regional film commission later noted that productions of this scale had rarely used the site before Indiana Jones. The location also attracted considerable attention from residents of Melrose and the surrounding area, with spectators gathering near the neighbouring A68 road bridge to watch the filming.

The dramatic railway action was assembled from footage recorded at several different locations rather than filmed entirely on the viaduct. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway supplied other sections of the train sequence, including railway tracks and rolling stock near Grosmont, while the train interiors were constructed at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. Production designer Adam Stockhausen based the fictional German train partly on historical reference material relating to Hitler’s personal train, the Führersonderzug. The completed sequence also relied heavily on computer-generated imagery created by Industrial Light & Magic, including digital work involving the train, surrounding railway infrastructure and the bridge’s destruction. No train was driven across the disused Leaderfoot Viaduct, and the collapse seen in the film was created through visual effects rather than damage to the historic structure.

In The Franchise (2024), the HBO comedy series created by Jon Brown and executive-produced by Sam Mendes and Armando Iannucci, Leaderfoot Viaduct appears in the seventh episode, Scene 113: The Bridge, directed by Kevin Bray and first broadcast on 17 November 2024. The series follows the increasingly troubled production of a fictional superhero blockbuster called Tecto, whose cast and crew struggle with studio interference, creative disagreements and technical disasters. The episode takes the production to a remote location in Armenia, represented by Leaderfoot Viaduct and the surrounding Scottish Borders countryside, where the filmmakers are preparing to destroy a historic bridge during an elaborate action sequence.

The location shoot is overseen by assistant director Daniel Kumar (Himesh Patel), producer Anita Yarnell (Aya Cash) and director Eric Bouchard (Daniel Brühl). Eric becomes increasingly distracted by an article criticising the influence of superhero films on modern cinema and decides that the planned action sequence should be replaced by a more serious and dialogue-driven conclusion. With the director effectively abandoning the original plan, Daniel takes charge of the location work, while Dag (Lolly Adefope) assumes additional responsibilities as first assistant director. The production crew, equipment and temporary filming infrastructure are positioned around the bridges and river valley, with Leaderfoot Viaduct and the neighbouring Drygrange Old Bridge forming identifiable parts of the setting.

The episode’s central disaster occurs when a misunderstanding between Dag and the local explosives crew results in the wrong bridge being demolished. Instead of successfully recording the planned action scene, the filmmakers accidentally destroy a culturally important structure, triggering further chaos when a large colony of protected bats emerges from the collapsing bridge. The mistake leaves Daniel and Anita attempting to conceal the incident by destroying the recorded footage before the studio or authorities discover what has happened.

The production filmed at Leaderfoot Viaduct and the surrounding Melrose area between late April and May 2024. The historic railway arches, nearby road crossings and wooded riverbanks were incorporated into the fictional Armenian landscape. The episode also included scenes of performers wearing superhero costumes and motion-capture suits, with smoke, fire and other practical effects used around the outdoor location. Some modern features of the surrounding landscape were digitally removed to make the fictional setting appear more isolated.

The bridge destruction was created through a combination of practical special effects and computer-generated imagery by Union Visual Effects. In a later interview, visual effects supervisor Adam Gascoyne and digital effects supervisor Dan Victoire explained that the team carried out detailed location surveys and digitally scanned the real bridge before building the effects sequence. Physical demolition effects were triggered during filming, but the collapsing bridge itself was replaced with a computer-generated model. The artists simulated falling masonry, smoke, debris and splashes in the river below, while the swarm of bats was created entirely through animation. A modern bridge visible behind the historic structure was also removed digitally from parts of the sequence. The work allowed the production to depict the destruction of a protected nineteenth-century landmark without causing damage to the actual viaduct.

---