 For years there had been discussion of a railway viaduct to bridge the Forth, and in 1867 the Caledonian Railway formulated definite plans to do so.Nothing concrete was done at the time, until on 11 August 1879 a proposal was approved by Parliament, in conjunction with improvement and extension of Alloa Docks.It was to be called the Alloa Railway, and it was to build from the former Scottish Central Railway South Alloa branch, and to cross the Forth by a long viaduct with a swing span, to a new terminal station in Alloa.