BVN – Bracken Valley and Northern Railroad

The Trestle Bridge, Milepost 44 · Bracken Valley & Northern Railroad

BV&N Archive › Structures › Milepost 44

Ref. BVN-STRUCT-044

The Trestle Bridge, Milepost 44

Still standing

Structure reference

Ref. no.	BVN-STRUCT-044
Location	MP 44, Bracken Creek
Type	Wooden pile trestle
Built	1892
Bents	12, approx. 35 ft main span
Height	Approx. 14 ft at center
Abutments	Stone, 1892 original

Last known crossing

October 14, 1971. No. 12 southbound, departed Hartshorn at 08:14. 3 cars. No crossings recorded after this date.

Current status

We have not been inside the fence line since the railroad closed.

B. Merritt · freight clerk · October 1966 Crossed on No. 12 at 08:14, southbound, October 1966. The bents looked the same as they always did. (I have crossed this bridge approximately 4,000 times. I stopped counting in 1955.) Freight ledger note, October 14, 1966. Routine entry.

Archive instrument

Load capacity test.

The trestle bridge at Milepost 44 carried freight for 79 years. Set a load, choose a crossing year. The year sets the condition of the timber. The structure responds.

Load capacity · Trestle Bridge MP 44 BVN-STRUCT-044

Load weight · 80 tons

0 t100 t200 t300 t400 t

Structural margin

100% safe

Year of crossing · 1892, structure 0 years old

Freight weight 80

tons

Grade speed 13

mph, Morrow's Gap

Center deflection 0

inches under load

Speed

14 mph limit

Set a load and choose a year. The bents take what the decade gives them.

B. Merritt · freight clerk · March 1934 Load rating on the center span has not been recalculated since 1910. (I checked the file. There is no file. The rating is from memory, which is to say it is not a rating.) Freight ledger note, March 1934. The bridge was 42 years old at time of writing.

Photographs from Fenwick Road

What can be seen from public access.

The bridge is on private land. These photographs were taken from the Fenwick Road shoulder, approximately 180 feet west of the structure. We have not crossed the fence line. The fence was not there when the railroad was running.

Looking northeast along Bracken Creek. The main span at center distance. The near piling at left is the outermost of 12. Water level consistent with a dry autumn.

Side elevation from Fenwick Road, afternoon light. Stone abutments at each end are original 1892 construction. The timber bents have not been assessed by this archive.

B. Merritt · freight clerk · November 1958 The bridge was repainted in 1958. I watched them do it from the Fenwick Road shoulder. Two men, four days. (I did not ask who paid for the paint. It is not in the ledger.) Ledger note, November 1958. No corresponding expense entry has been found.

Further photographs · Fenwick Road shoulder · various dates · Taken from public access only

Late afternoon, amber light.MP 44 / Bracken Creek

Early morning fog. Autumn.Fenwick Road shoulder

Structure detail · Photograph study

Bent No. 6, center span.

The X-bracing between the cross members is the primary lateral stabilizer in a wooden pile trestle. Each diagonal carries compressive and tensile loads alternately depending on wind direction and train passage. The joint darkening visible here is consistent with 70-plus years of rain exposure without treatment.

No maintenance record for this structure exists in the archive after October 1971. The archive has not been inside the fence line and cannot assess the current condition of the timber.

The water at the base of the legs is Bracken Creek. In a wet year the creek reaches the base of the outermost pilings. In a dry year it does not.

If you have conducted a structural survey of this structure, or have access to one, the archive would like to hear from you. We respond when we can.

B. Merritt · freight clerk · July 1962 No. 9 stalled on this span for 11 minutes in July 1962, rain, full load of Fenwick stone. The bents held. (I was in the cab. I did not record my opinions at the time. This is consistent with my practice.) Freight ledger note, July 14, 1962. No. 9 eventually completed the crossing under her own power.

The trestle bridge at Milepost 44 is the oldest structure associated with the Bracken Valley & Northern Railroad that remains on its original site. The locomotive shops in Hartshorn were demolished in 1969. The station buildings at Fenwick and Crestfall were gone before the railroad closed. The freight house at Milepost 47 was sold in 1974 and has been in continuous use since.

The bridge was not part of the 1972 liquidation. Whether this was an oversight or a deliberate exclusion is not clear from the records available to this archive. It has been standing in the same location since 1892. Nobody has collected it.

The last recorded crossing was October 14, 1971. No. 12 southbound, departed Hartshorn Freight at 08:14. 3 cars. That is the final entry. There was no later crossing recorded. The bridge has not been used since that date as far as this archive can determine.

Correspondence about the bridge, including information about the current ownership of the parcel or the condition of the structure, may be directed to the archive. We do not have a telephone number. We respond to correspondence when we can.

B. Merritt · freight clerk · October 14, 1971 Final crossing, 13:22. No. 12 southbound, 3 cars. The bridge was 79 years old. (I did not look back.) Freight ledger. October 14, 1971. The last entry concerning Milepost 44.

TypeWooden pile trestle

Built1892

Last crossingOct. 14, 1971

StatusStanding. Private land. Not accessible.