Re: 2nd Wooden Trestle Lost . . .

> Russo Loco Wrote:
> ------------------------------------------------
> > The trestles are part of the fabric of the
> > railroad, and should NOT be replaced with steel
> > culverts, as has been done over the past couple
> > of years ...
>
> > [at m.p. 287.50] - where an ugly fill and culvert
> > more appropriate to a paved highway replaced a
> > beautiful three-span trestle in 2010.


then Ron Keagle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Why was this trestle replaced? Was the im-
> mediate cost of repairing this trestle to make
> it serviceable greater than the cost of the fill
> and culvert option?


I don't know, Ron -

My guess, based on a quick, casual look at the trestle's remains, was that a significant percentage of the pilings may have deteriorated. IIRC, most of the square timbers didn't seem all that bad - but again, I didn't look too close.

Another factor was that only one large culvert - probably six feet wide and five feet tall (the bottom was somewhat flattened, and I couldn't stand upright in it) - was used to replace a fairly good-sized trestle; the large amount of fill appeared to have been available in the immediate vicinity, needing only a bulldozer to pile it up.

Before the trestle replacement last year the road to this location was just a rough track through the sagebrush. Mid-May 2010 was the first time that I actually went to it's location, as I had noticed it in 1968 and again in 2008, and presumed that it would make a good location for a scenic photo.

The trestle in the foreground, at m.p. 286.72, was "culvertized" in 2009; the one at m.p. 287.50 - way in the background on the left of the photo below - is the one "culvertized" in the spring of 2010:


M.P 287.50 on 05/24/10.  A great location, but missing both trestle and train:


#489 whistling for crossing at m.p. 287.45 (approx.) on 05/25/10; new fill & partially camouflaged culvert at lower right:*


- Roosso

* The glare of the culvert had been significantly reduced by the judicious application of some Dark Olive Green Boiler Jacket Enamel Urethane . . . and dirt.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2022 09:06PM by Russo Loco.