Eastern Railroad Discussion > Harpers Ferry bridge question

If you are at the Harpers Ferry Station, looking directly toward the tunnel while a train is going by, it looks like there is a slight grade-change on the bridge (to me, at least).

Eyes play many tricks. If this is the case, what side of the bridge was built on a grade, or is it somewhat of a summit?

Matthew

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I see what you see.  The line is going down-river/hill.  It's a change in the grade.  Gerry

Tunnel clearance improvements at some time in the past?

Apparently the grade does change, but
I don't see why there would be a summit
there. Without looking at the chart, I'll guess
the grade on the bridge is very slightly
ascending westward and the grade in the
tunnel is a few tenths more.

Another look
Thomas Underwood Coll B&O186 | Harpers Ferry Tunnel from bri… | Flickr



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/21 10:42 by timz.

march_hare Wrote:
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> Tunnel clearance improvements at some time in the
> past?

I think so.  If I remember correctly, they lowered the floor a bit when they notched the corners to accomodate double stacks.  I have to dig out some older photographs I took there to see if there is a noticeable difference.

march_hare Wrote:
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> Tunnel clearance improvements at some time in the
> past?

That was done very recently (2013?). It was part of CSX's National Gateway Project initiative.

Except Point of Rocks and Catoctin Tunnels (in Point of Rocks, MD) and the Old Mainline right-of-way tunnels, all of the tunnels between Baltimore and Pittsburgh had been either renovated or daylighted. The reasoning behind all of it was to enable CSX to run intermodal trains with doublestack containers all the way west to Chicago.

Matthew

Is the walkway on the Shenandoah Sub bridge back open? 

holiwood Wrote:
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> Is the walkway on the Shenandoah Sub bridge back
> open? 

I believe it has been restord.

The last time I was at Harpers Ferry was one evening about a month ago. When I as driving on the Virginia/West Virginia section of Route 340, I thought I could vaguely see people walking on the bridge.

Matthew

Assuming it was once more level with the bridge, lowering the track in the tunnel for clearance would account for the change in elevation and the subsequent grade.