Western Railroad Discussion > Photo Contest: Western Bridges

Since I am by trade a civil engineer, I thought it appropriate that my submissions for the Structures Contest should highlight the most venerable type of railroad structure: The bridge. Railroads simply can't get from one place to another without crossing a drainage, a river, a highway or a chasm, and these are the structures used to keep trains moving.

1) The Great Northern crossed the Skykomish River at numerous places between its namesake town and Everett, WA, and my favorite of these crossings is at milepost 1750.9 a few miles east of Gold Bar. The sun is just about to slip behind a ridge line on the afternoon of January 15th, 2008, and the only eastbound train on the line that afternoon was stopped by the dispatcher at Gold Bar to let maintenance-of-way crews finish up their work at Skykomish. An opportunity lost, but not entirely...

2) This former SP&S bridge is still standing proudly more than two decades after it last carried a train over the abandoned UP branch from Hooper to Connell in Washtucna, WA.

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3) A few miles south of where I-90 crosses the Columbia River in eastern Washington is a quiet town called Beverly. Tucked against the slowly-drifting river in the shadow of the Saddle Mountains, Beverly's most arresting man-made feature hasn't been used for its intended purpose in nearly three decades, now merely utilized for transmitting electrical power and collecting bird droppings. On an early spring morning last year, I visited Beverly and the Milwaukee Road's Columbia River crossing. Standing on the bank with the cold water slowly sliding past my toes, I gazed up at the bridge and imagined I could hear a westbound train approaching, charging hard in advance of the climb to Boylston.

4) In "the gap" between the Montana/Idaho and Washington electrified districts, the Milwaukee Road passed through St. Maries, Idaho and followed the shore of Lake Benewah towards Plummer. The Milwaukee is no more, but the spirit of that grand railroad lives on in the St. Maries River Railroad and its ex-MILW employees. On September 10, 2008, STMA 101 and 103 trundle across Lake Benewah at Heyburn State Park, preparing to assault the grade up to Plummer.

EDIT:
I posted a fifth image on the Eastern board: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,1806676

Good luck to everyone who enters the contest!

Dave Honan
Issaquah, WA

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Very good stuff! Thanks for posting...

WOW ! Spectacular stuff !

KevO

AWESOME photos and i believe we have a winner.

Hey Dave!!

Hows things out on the LEFT coast? Do you miss us back here in Indy? Probably not....

Kidding!

IU

Thanks, everyone.

IU: Yes, I do miss Indiana. Spending a day chasing INRD, ISRR or NS in the southern part of the state is just as rewarding as the railfanning I do out here.

-Dave

Beautiful stuff, Dave! That bridge near Gold Bar is one of my favorites as well. The snow and low light add a lot to that photo.

- Kit

Kit Courter
Menefee, CA
LunarLight Photography

The Columbia bridge at Beverly is a wonderful shot with awe inspiring visions of imense size and strength. What a beautiful perspective.

Bet that bridge cost a ton of money even in todays terms.

Dave

Not only some absolutely arresting photos, especially the Beverly & the Skykomish shots, but really liked your well worded descriptions. You must have a winner in this group!

Agree that bridges have an major place in RR imagery, Photo #1 is the best rendition of that location that I've seen. I also have that missing train problem on that line, suppose it's the need for Maintainance windows that extend to the last moment of useful light. Beverly is another ghost destination in Western RR imagery, that canyon/gorge has some tremendous geology.

Wow... the best pics that I've seen in this contest so far.

#1 for the serenity (love the snow covered rocks in shadow), #3 for the drama you've somehow infused into an inanimate object!

Cheers,
Darryl

I agree. Great Pictures!

Sam Drake

Man . . the color and fine resolution on those really spectacular,
complimenting the cropping and chosen subjects extremely well . . .
Just when ya think they can't get any better . . somebody jacks
the standards even higher . . ! 'Dogh

Number one is great.

Bob Jordan

DWHonan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks, everyone.
>
> IU: Yes, I do miss Indiana. Spending a day
> chasing INRD, ISRR or NS in the southern part of
> the state is just as rewarding as the railfanning
> I do out here.
>
> -Dave


You oughta see the "NEW" INRD power. Never thought I'd see Holback(sp?) buy something that massive. I guess that's what coal does for you!