Eastern Railroad Discussion > I wonder which side of this highway was the original 2-lane road?

I've always found this bridge hilarious just because I've never seen one like it where they merely added a new section of bridge when enlarging a road, rather than completely rebuilding the bridge.  Makes it -incredibly- easy to tell which side of the road was original and which side came later!

https://i.imgur.com/in7BurK.jpg

Also interesting is the just barely legible "Seaboard" on the original portion of the bridge.

https://i.imgur.com/nLhy7fT.jpg

Location is on the CSX Hopewell Sub - Bermuda Hundred Spur.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/21 16:59 by Totallamer.

Seeing the linked pictures reminded me of a bridge I used to pass under every day '69-72 while in the USAF at Wright Patterson AFB in Fairborn, OH.  Unlike the linked pictures above, I suspect this bridge was built as seen on Google: Google Earth Image

From about 1900 to 1939, it was a 2-lane highway on the left side of the picture, and the double track C&LE Cinncinatti & Lake Erie interurban between Dayton and Springfield OH.  The C&LE, like many interurbans were side-of-the-road operations in many locations.  Overhead was 'shared' the NYC & Erie Railroads that each owned one track Springfield to Dayton, but it was dispatched as double track.  The C&LE folded in 1939.  When I drove it each day, it was 2 lanes in each direction as the 'start' of Springfield St as an exit ramp from State Hwy 444.  I have no idea when or why they changed it to 1 lane each way, perhaps to simplify the exit/merge with 444.  Some time after I was discharged, the Erie-owned track (PC or Conrail at that point) was removed all the way back to Marion.

For what it's worth, my office was on 4th floor in Bldg 55 about 100 yards to the left of this image in Area B of WPAFB.  I had a great view of the railroad as well as B-52's, KC-135's and the very first C5A (extensive testing) taking off from Area A of WPAFB...they were less than 100 feet above the flat roof of the building and shook it big time.  I never brought a camera to work.  But then, we did some top secret R&D there, so I have little doubt that a camera would have been strongly frowned upon. 

Also, the Air Force Museum is in Area B and has some incredible historic planes including the almost wingless 'lifting body'.  It's a great place to see!  I watched them move the museum from Area A to Area B about 1971, towing one plane at a time down the highway and detouring around this bridge to get there.  For the XB-70, they leapfrogged wide metal plates to spread the load on the highway.  I watched its last landing ever about a year earlier.
 

I was in Palmdale at Plant 42 for it's first flight. My dad worked on the project.  It was quite the plane.

BRAtkinson Wrote:
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> Also, the Air Force Museum is in Area B and has
> some incredible historic planes including the
> almost wingless 'lifting body'.  It's a great
> place to see!  I watched them move the museum
> from Area A to Area B about 1971, towing one plane
> at a time down the highway and detouring around
> this bridge to get there.  For the XB-70, they
> leapfrogged wide metal plates to spread the load
> on the highway.  I watched its last landing ever
> about a year earlier.
>