The Tay Bridge was a real bridge that collapsed in Dundee, Scotland, during a violent storm on 28 December 1879. (No passengers and crew on board a crossing train survived the disaster). Though long since replaced, some ruins of the structure can still be seen at the location as of 2009.
One of over 700 Paramount productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. Its initial USA television broadcast took place in Chicago Wednesday 4 March 1959 on WBBM (Channel 2). It first aired in Seattle 29 October 1959 on KIRO (Channel 7), in Minneapolis 21 November 1959 on WTCN (Channel 11), in Detroit, in two parts, 8-9 December 1959 on WJBK (Channel 2), in Omaha 10 January 1960 on KETV (Channel 7), and in Indianapolis 6 February 1960 on WFBM (Channel 6).