Steam & Excursion > Not Many Railroads Sported One Of These, Especially This Kind!

Covered railroad bridges were somewhat rare in this country, especially in the West. However if one knew where to look they could be found.

The Southern Pacific line from Coos Bay, Oregon to Powers did in fact have one such bridge for most of that line's years in service. Because Coos Bay Lumber Co. had operating rights on the Powers branch, one could see quite a variety of steam power using the covered bridge. In this scene we see CBL 2-8-2T #11 emerging from the bridge in the 1950's.

Alas, few if any covered railroad bridges exist today. They have faded into railroad history along with the steam trains they once carried.

Martin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/17 03:17 by LoggerHogger.

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Covered bridge near Coos Bay - neat! Never knew they existed in the Pacific Northwest. Thanks for sharing your wonderful collection with us. Enjoy your Thanksgiving with family and friends.

There are at least 50 covered bridges left in Oregon, only one a railroad bridge and it was rebuilt a few years ago in Cottage Grove.

Ed

Here is the last surviving covered railroad bridge in Oregon. This served the Lorane Valley Lumber Co. of Cottage Grove, Oregon.

The first shot shows it while in service and the second as it is restored today.

Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/17 06:17 by LoggerHogger.

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They're still building the things there's one outside my back window!

Out



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/17 10:39 by callum_out.

Why would a railroad build a covered bridge? I understand the need if horse-drawn equipment was using the bridge, but can’t understand why it would be necessary, especially if the bridge was purpose built for rail. It would seem like a fire hazard. Thanks in advance for any answers anyone could share.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Desmond Praetzel, “4451 Puff”

NICE picture Martin. Yes, the Chambers covered bridge in Cottage Grove is nicely restored....here are a couple of pictures from the dedication. Noted rail historian and author Steve Hauff was one of the keynoters; I especially like the rails they put inside to let people know what the bridge was originally used for., December 3, 2011. Happy Thanksgiving!! Arlen

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why covered bridges? rains a "bit" here in western Oregon and wood rots. Arlen

asheldrake Wrote:
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> why covered bridges? rains a "bit" here in
> western Oregon and wood rots. Arlen


Ditto! The decking, ties, pilings, etc. last a lot longer when covered.

Arlen,

They used one of my photos of the bridge in service on one of the interpretive plagues at the bridge.

Here is a view of the entire Lorane Valley Lumber Co. mill and railroad facilities in Cottage Grove. You can see the covered bridge in use at the top left of the mill grounds.

The enginehouse and a couple of the logging lokies is at the top right of the mill grounds.

Here is the bridge interior just after the dedication. Note the cut-out of LVL ALCO 2-6-2 on the interior wall to the left. Also note the metal sculpture on the far end of the bridge of LVL #2 coming at you with her diamond stack that was needed so she would clear the wooden bridge.

I have attached a photo of #2 in service at the mill in 1949 showing her as a wood burner and with her short stack necessitated by the covered bridge. It is amazing the wood piled in the tender cleared the bridge since it is piled higher than the stack is tall.

Martin



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/17 11:03 by LoggerHogger.

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The wood truss members are the principle reason that it makes sense to protect the truss structure from rain.
It is very difficult to replace decayed truss elements without compromising the ability of the bridge to support itself.
That is why covered bridges always have long spans: crossings that can be built with a series of simple stringer spans can be maintained with much less difficulty.

as Martin notes, there are several excellent interpretive panels associated with the bridge. I would guess that one of Martin's photos is in one of these two. Cottage Grove did, in my opinion, an excellent job of capturing and preserving a great chapter in their community and logging history. I am hoping that the panels and the bridge are appreciated by the graffiti vandals and remain un-adorned. Arlen

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In addition to the ones mentioned, the fine book on Weyerhaeuser's Vail-McDonald operation in southwest Washington also had some covered bridges, though they might have been on Milwaukee Road trackage. In California, the Humboldt Northern Railroad (Dolbeer & Carson Lumber) line built north from Samoa had a long covered bridge over the Mad River, it remained in service until successor Hammond Lumber finally replaced it with a steel truss bridge in 1941.

I am curious about one item, though...did the logging railroads that ran through covered bridges have requirements for visual inspection of log trains before going over bridges, or anything along those lines?

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

Here is a photo of the Chambers bridge from back in '90's prior to the restoration.

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In May 1949 Bert Ward was the conductor on a freight bound for Wendling, Oregon on the Marcola Branch of the Southern Pacific. The engine was SP #2506.

In this first view we see the train about to go through a covered bridge on that line.

In May 1950 Bert was again a conductor on an SP line with a covered bridge. This time it was on the Powers branch. Here is a shot he took from the tender of SP #2952.

Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/17 13:00 by LoggerHogger.

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Outstanding! Martin it seems your amazing collection has no end to it. Priceless stuff especially that last photo.
Thank you as always.
Steve B.

Loved all the photos Martin! Thanks for sharing them.

Particularly, the first photo. I got to fire the CBL #11
in Campo, Ca at the PSRM. It is currently undergoing a slow
but painstaking restoration at the museum.

I got to see this bridge when I visited the area back in 1987.

Mike

LVL#2 looks like it ought to be related to a McCloud River 2-6-2.....

Not sure you really need sides on the things.

Out

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Back in 1962, my family drove from Agnes through Powers to Coquille and I was enchanted by all of the covered bridges on the G-P (nee CBL) line, but we had no camera with us. (I also remember a long line of SP pulpwood cars - 50' wood-sided boxcars with missing roofs - at Powers) In 1970, we again had the opportunity to tour the line, and by this time I was armed with a camera, only to find that the railroad was shut down, and the covered bridges had been replaced with girder spans sometime in the interim. The one exception was at Powers, sans rails (below). I visited again in 2014, and Powers was so decimated that I was generally disoriented, but this bridge, too, seemed to be gone.

EO

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