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Looking towards
Springfield
Photo taken by Jeff
Jargosch |
#15 and Caboose #102 charge across the
trestle over the Rahway River.
Collection of George
Wankmueller |
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Looking towards
Springfield, Meisel Ave. can be seen just up
ahead. | |
This
truss bridge over the Rahway River was perhaps the most notable structure
on the Rahway Valley Railroad. The bridge itself was
constructed in circa 1905 as part of the extension to Summit and was more than likely
designed by J. Wallace Higgins who engineered most of the
RVRR.
The bridge straddles the border
between the towns of Springfield and Union in the marshes of the Rahway
River. This marshy area proved to be troublesome to the contractors
building the line between 1904 and 1906. "The story is told how disaster
struck, as the line was being built toward Springfield. The grading crew
knocked off work at sundown, about 450 yards west of Branch Junction.
Returning the next morning, found that about
100 cubic yards of fill had disappeared into the marshland on the approach
to the Rahway River. Considerable delay in the construction timetable
resulted while a coffer dam was built and the soft footings removed. A
firm bed was found somewhat lower and grillage dropped. The Rahway River
span itself redesigned from the original plate span to a heavier truss
bridge, mounted on stronger reinforced abutments." (Rahway Valley Railroad: Saga of a Shortline, by John J.
McCoy, 1976).
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Wm. Wyer &
Co.
Report on Rahway Valley Railroad
August
1944 |
| Over Rahway River. One span riveted truss
bridge for one track. Length of trusses 93'-0". Condition fair. End
roller bearings are badly rusted and out of
line |
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Annother
interesting story from the time of the bridge's construction tells of an
"awful" snapping turtle spotted here. "A snapping turtle of huge
proportions, whose habit it is related was to plunge at men who approached
it with a grunt resembling the bark of a ferocious dog, and whose glance
was equally terrifying was caught . . . Workmen employed in erecting an
iron bridge over the Rahway River at Springfield for the Rahway Valley
Railway [sic] have noticed the turtle swimming about in the
stream or basking in the sunshine on the bank." ("An
Awful Snapping Turtle," The Washington Post, August 12,
1905)
Of
vital importance to the railroad the bridge, commonly referred to as "the
Trestle" by local residents, has also been a local landmark to the
youth of the area. Hanging out, with friends, in the woods around the
trestle was a past-time. Local kids were known to have wild bonfires and
even try to jump a ride on the slow moving trains that passed. Leaving
pennies on the track was also a must.
See what this location looks like
today
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#13 roars over the trestle
and into
Springfield
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While on the clock, Conductor Walt Switz
took this photograph from #17 as the engine approached the trestle.
Photo taken by Walt
Switz.
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Diagram of the
Rahway River bridge from Wyer, Dick, & Co.'s 1969 analysis of
the railroad. |
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#13 comes across
the Rahway River and whistles for Meisel Ave. in this Fall, 1947
view.
Photo taken by Charles Roselius, collection
of Don Oberding. |
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#15 and Caboose
#102 have just crossed the Rahway River and the engineer is pulling
on the whistle chord for Meisel Avenue. |
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Looking towards Union. Photo taken by Jeff
Jargosch |
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Looking towards Union. Photo taken by Jeff
Jargosch |
