Demise of a Railroad Trestle

[jamesmck]

This railroad trestle across the Charles River in Waltham, Massachusetts has been standing for over 150 years and has just been demolished in June 2016. Not sure of reasons. Most sections of the river and adjacent shores are under control/supervision of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, where I am sure the decision was made. The reference photo of the intact trestle was taken in 2008, and the other photo was taken a few days ago. More pictures and details are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesmck3 ... 9742613451

Thanks for looking.

[minoly]

Your photos and text give a satisfying and visually effective account of the trestle's place on the river and its removal. I enjoyed looking at the photos and reading the text-- leads to thoughts about a lot of things. I think the series of photos does the trick; one time I tried to document the destruction of the old "high bridge" in St Paul-- it didn't amount to anything, mainly, I think now, because the process didn't really show up in the photos.

[PFMcFarland]

Nice documentation, James. Usually safety of the public is the main issue when something like this is taken down. It could have been close to collapsing on its own, or was looked at as an impediment to boaters. Any number of reasons could be conjured up, and they would all make sense. But maybe the conservators just want to return the area to its natural state, thus the bridge with its creosoted timbers had to go. Too bad though, it could have been used as a river crossing on a hiking/biking trail.

PF

[Julio1fer]

Excellent document, many thanks for posting this. That bridge must be older than me.

[Brazile]

Oh, yeah, the Watertown Branch. A shame they didn't hold on to that right-of-way better, instead of (for example) letting the car dealerships along Arsenal St squat on it.

Robert

[LarryD]

[jamesmck]

Thanks for the comments, everyone. It was really sad to see this thing disappear. Progress?