Her grandfather William Anderson and his firm Messrs William Anderson and Sons, bricklayers, builders and contractors, were well known for their many buildings in Dundee and farther afield.

These included Buddon Ness Lights, foundations of the first Tay Bridge, which can still be seen today, King’s Cross Hospital, Corporation Gas Works and other municipal buildings.

Dundee Lord Provost John Letford will lay a wreath during the course of tomorrow’s ceremony, to be conducted by the Rev Eric Milton at the high girders on the River Tay.

The Maritime Volunteer Service launch Badger, and the Broughty Ferry lifeboat Elizabeth of Glamis, will convey the invited party to the place where the train lay.

“I suppose it’s fitting that the last of his descendants attends the ceremony,” said Sheila.

“I was very young when he died at the age of 92. I was too young then to be interested in his work, but, as you get older, you create that interest in your forebears.

“I’ve always taken an interest in the bridge and all his other buildings.

“It will be the first time I’ve been to see the high girders.

“He didn’t agree with the design or materials used to build the bridge.

“The foundations are still standing. It proves his work was worthwhile.”

On the night of December 28, 1879, during a violent storm, a central section of the bridge collapsed, taking with it a train, six carriages and 75 souls to their fate. There were no survivors.

What should have been one of the engineering wonders of the Victorian age, the longest bridge in the world and one given the royal seal of approval by Queen Victoria, had stood for fewer than two years.

The disaster shocked the world and ruined the reputation of the bridge’s designer, Sir Thomas Bouch.

The original inquiry into the disaster produced a report within six months that condemned the structure for its design and materials defects.

Subsequent studies have claimed that Bouch, who died a broken man, was made the scapegoat when bad workmanship and economic corner-cutting were to blame, while various theories have been proposed as to what made the bridge actually fall, from the pressures of gale force winds, to the train derailing and striking the structure, to foundations not having been sunk deep enough.

The tragedy shocked the world and led to important changes in bridge design, construction and inspection.

At the time of the collapse, Bouch was working on the design of the proposed Forth Bridge that was subsequently transferred to Benjamin Baker and Sir John Fowler.

Lord Provost Letford, said, “Of course it’s a great honour to be involved and we remember of a great tragedy that befell the city.

“I’m looking forward to the ceremony, although it will be a sad occasion.”

Also attending tomorrow’s ceremony is Bill Dow, retired head of science at Dundee College of Education, who has studied the effects of the bridges over the Tay on navigation and the economy.

Mr Dow was brought up on the story of the Tay Bridge, with a particular family connection.

His great grandfather had his own foundry and he, together with the owners of another big foundry in Dundee, seriously thought about tendering for this bridge.

It is also hoped that descendants of those who perished on the fateful night may also be in attendance.

The ceremony itself will be clearly visible to interested members of the public from the adjacent shoreline at both ends of the rail bridge.

Badger’s season of river trips, which ended on October 31, has carried a total of 529 people to the site of Britain’s most memorable transport disaster.

The excursions pass between piers 32 and 33 to stop a while over the spot where the train’s engine lay on the riverbed.

The first Tay Bridge took six years to build, using 10 million bricks, two million rivets, 87,000 cubic feet of timber and 15,000 casks of cement.

Six hundred men were employed throughout the construction, 20 of whom lost their lives.

Costing over £300,000, the bridge attracted the attention of many at home and abroad, including General Ulysses Grant, who visited to view the construction in 1877.

Although Queen Victoria was unable to open the bridge, she did cross it in the summer of 1879, shortly before she knighted Thomas Bouch.