e.sillery wrote:There is a wooden rail bridge in Tuscaloosa, AL that was completed in 1898 and is used every day by a shortline. It is about 1/2 to 3/4 miles long. It crosses the Black Warrior River and has an "S" curve in it (it was not built as a straight bridge). The trackage is leased from KCS and the bridge has more splices than I can count. There is a 10 mph restriction on it.
About 200ft. of walkway caught on fire a couple of months ago and that put the walkway out of service for a while. Even after it was replaced there is not a walkway that crosses the entire bridge. There is no walkway over the river section.
The contractor that is constantly repairing/replacing parts told me "There is no way in Hell I would ride a train across that thing."
This bridge is being maintained by a penny pinching shortline so the maintenance done is only what absolutely has to be done.
There is a small subdivision in the BNSF time table that has several bridges with speed and weight restrictions. I would not be wanting to ride on those.
Even the metal ones out here give me the willys
