Tested trestles

So much after my own heart (this proves I’m not alone) here is 'Highest Steam: 9 Abandoned Railroad & Train Bridge Trestles', another WebUrbanist post.

Durable by design and situated by necessity in difficult to access locations, railway trestles are often all that remain when rail lines are closed and abandoned.

Tallulah Falls Railway, Georgia

Georgia’s Tallulah Falls Railway operated for nearly 90 years – from 1st September 1871 to 25th March 1961. The railway featured in several films including 1951′s ‘I’d Climb the Highest Mountain’ and the 1955 Disney production, ‘The Great Locomotive Chase’. The 1972 epic film ‘Deliverance’ (have Duelling Banjos playing) featured two of the main tourist attractions of the Tallulah Falls Railway: the waterfall at Lake Tallulah Falls, and the view from Tallulah Gorge.

Only the steel & concrete trestles of the Tallulah Falls Railway remain

In order to keep trains running on the straight and level along the railway’s 58 mile stretch from Cornelia, Georgia to Franklin, North Carolina,they had more than 40 wooden trestles and one series of steel and concrete trestles constructed. It’s little wonder the railway closed due to a mounting and unsustainable debt load.

Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railroad, Michigan

A combination wood and steel trestle and pocket dock was constructed in 1931, to bring iron ore to ships waiting in Marquette, Michigan’s lower harbour. 

The wooden trestle portion standing in majestic solitude after the adjoining steel dock was salvaged

The dock officially closed on December 31st, 1971 when ore shipments were diverted to Escanaba and the railway, trestles and dock subsequently fell into disrepair. In the early 2000′s, redevelopment resulted in portions of the trestle and dock being demolished.

Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railroad, Colorado

In 1903 when the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railroad first laid rails across the Great Divide at Colorado’s 11,660 foot high Rollins Pass, it was hailed as a triumph of American railway engineering. 25 years later, another engineering triumph – the Moffat Tunnel – negated the need for the Rollins Pass line and the rail bed was converted to accommodate road traffic.

Devil's Slide

  









Supported by the east and west Devils Slide Trestles, the route has been off-limits to vehicles since 1990 when a rock slide blocked the Needle’s Eye tunnel. 
Hikers and cyclists are still allowed to cross the over-a-century-old wooden trestles, though one might end up meeting the Devil himself should he or she take an unexpected slide.

White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad, Yukon, Canada

 This isn’t the “After The Gold Rush” Neil Young was thinking of, though it’s almost as moving as the man’s music, and any excuse to play the track.

The old Dead Horse Gulch railroad trestle bridge is on the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad to the heart of the Klondike. The rail line was constructed during the gold rush of the 1890s. The Dead Horse Gulch bridge being built in 1899. 
After 70 years of stalwart service, it was bypassed in 1969 by a new tunnel and bridge designed to withstand the weight of loaded ore trains from the Faro lead-zinc mine, which opened the same year. 
The new bridge was just a stone’s throw from the old one, providing riders on the revived WP&YR Heritage Railway an awesome sight, especially when the fog rolls in.

Florida East Coast Railway, Florida

Just over 101 years ago and 7 years after construction began, the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway was finally completed. Dubbed “the Overseas Railroad” and “the 8th wonder of the world”, Henry Flagler’s dream was made real at the cost of $50 million and the lives of dozens of workers. Until 1972 the Bahia Honda Rail Bridge connected Bahia Honda Key and Spanish Harbor Key. The Hurricane of 2nd September 1935 put the money-losing railway out of business. Flagler’s innovative bridge construction techniques were not wasted, however, being quickly re-purposed into the 127.5 mile (205.2km) long Overseas Highway that opened in March of 1938 (the Overseas Highway was substantially rebuilt in the 1970s and ’80s).

The Bahia Honda Rail Bridge looking more like a take-off ramp

 The Bahia Honda Rail Bridge’s notorious gap wasn’t caused by storms or decay - two spans of the bridge were removed to accommodate boat traffic and discourage pedestrian use of the span.
As always there are more photos and stories at WebUrbanist.