| Railway Preservation News https://www.rypn.org/forums/ |
|
| DL&W truss bridge offered for free in NJ https://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3325 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | Rob Davis [ Mon Jun 17, 2002 1:59 pm ] |
| Post subject: | DL&W truss bridge offered for free in NJ |
From www.njo.com Free to a good home: Truss bridge Rare rail span must go in Peapack-Gladstone Monday, June 17, 2002 BY ELEANOR BARRETT Star-Ledger Staff It might not be the Brooklyn Bridge, but it's free. The Hog Back Bridge, a rust-colored hulk that has spanned the Raritan River in Peapack-Gladstone, Somerset County, since 1890, is available to anyone willing to haul it away and preserve it. The 119-foot, wrought-iron truss bridge -- owned by NJ Transit and one of only about a dozen left in the state -- is being replaced with a span to handle the larger trains NJ Transit plans to add by 2004. While there is no deadline for applying, transit officials say this is an act-fast offer. "If someone doesn't come forward to take over the title, then we would have to get it hauled away and turned into scrap metal," NJ Transit spokeswoman Janet Hines said. "It's a rare bridge, and it's the only (truss bridge) we have. We would prefer to have someone who's interested in its historic value to come forward to preserve it." The offer is being made under the guidelines of the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Act of 1987, which mandates that bridges with historic value be offered to new owners before being demolished. Bridges similar to the Peapack-Gladstone span can be found throughout New Jersey, including the Dingman's Ferry toll bridge that crosses the Delaware River, the School Street Bridge in Glen Gardener, the West Main Street Bridge in Clinton and the Musconetcong Bridge in New Hampton. But it is not every day that one is offered up to a new owner. While New Jersey has few notable cases of bridge giveaways, other states have been successful in ridding themselves of old bridges, said Eric DeLony, head of the Historic American Engineering Record, a division of the National Park Service. The latest is in Pennsylvania, where a 96-foot bridge that crosses the Ontelaunee Creek is to be moved to the campus of Central Pennsylvania College in Summerdale, DeLony said. One of the most dramatic bridge relocations involved moving a 240-foot truss bridge from Wisconsin to a Northern California ranch in the early 1990s, he said. But DeLony cautioned that anyone interested in the Peapack-Gladstone bridge should be aware of what he is getting into. "The giving away is the easy part. It's the getting it and taking it away that's always hard," he said. The estimated cost for removal, transportation and reassembly can run as much as $250,000. Called Hog Back Bridge after the shape of a mountain ridge in the area, the truss bridge was built as part of the expansion of the Delaware, Lackawana & Western Railroad from Bernardsville to Gladstone in 1890. Trains that ran along the line were dubbed the "millionaires express" for the clientele they attracted, such as Chrysler executive James Cox Brady, financier Clarence Dillon and Wall Street tycoon C. Ledyard Blair. Today, the truss bridge is so inconspicuous that drivers must exit their cars on the quiet road between Peapack-Gladstone and Far Hills to even see the span, which is located on the 500-acre estate of the late King Hassan II of Morocco. NJ Transit plans to keep the old span open while a new bridge is assembled nearby. Over a single weekend, sometime in the winter of 2004, workers will dismantle the old bridge and install the new span in the same spot, said Hines, the NJ Transit spokeswoman. Train service should be disrupted only for two days, she said. Peapack-Gladstone native Barry Thomson recalls hiking near the bridge as a child. While he took the bridge for granted back then, the main attraction was a tunnel dug through the mountain near the bridge known as "Hunt's Folly," a failed Revolutionary War-era effort to connect Peapack Brook with the Raritan River. Thomson, who now lives in Manhattan, said he hopes to see the bridge saved from the scrap heap. "I would hope an appropriate party will take up NJ Transit's offer and relocate the bridge somewhere else," he said. "It's sad to see a bridge that has existed for more than 110 years, then be removed." Still, some locals doubt NJ Transit's ability to find a taker. "I would hope it wouldn't go the scrap heap, but I can't imagine who would take it," said Jean Hill of Bernardsville, who keeps photos of Hog Back Bridge as part of the collection of her late husband, railroad photographer Homer Hill. Steve Richman, a Princeton attorney and amateur bridge expert whose article on bridges is set to appear in the Encyclopedia of New Jersey due out by Rutgers Press, said other New Jersey bridge relocation projects include those in Montgomery, Hopewell and Princeton. "I would hope whoever gets this bridge has respect for its historical nature," he said. "Some of these bridges from the 1890s are not just unique to New Jersey, but across the country." DeLony seconded that. "In the last 20 years, over half of the historic bridges identified by state inventories across the country have been destroyed, so every bridge that's saved today is important," he said. "It would be a very wonderful thing if NJ Transit has success in saving this old metal bridge." Eleanor Barrett covers the Somerset Hills. She may be reached at ebarrett@starledger.com or (908) 529-9925. trains@robertjohndavis.com |
|
| Author: | Rob Davis [ Mon Jun 17, 2002 5:04 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Link to picture of bridge |
http://TrainNut.Railfan.net/ELmainpage/ ... -01JPM.JPG Bridge to be given away by NJ Transit trains@robertjohndavis.com |
|
| Author: | Randall Hicks [ Tue Jun 18, 2002 7:31 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: DL&W truss bridge |
> Today, the truss bridge is so inconspicuous > that drivers must exit their cars on the > quiet road between Peapack-Gladstone and Far > Hills to even see the span, which is located > on the 500-acre estate of the late King > Hassan II of Morocco. Ah, memories. Back in 1983, I was chasing the DL&W Edison cars in their last days, and I stopped to take some movies of an MU train crossing this quaint bridge. So some of King Hassan's bodyguards (I guess) came around and asked what I was doing, warned me to stay on the road, not to take pictures of the house, etc. etc. I had no idea who lived there and didn't want movies of his house, anyhow. Sheesh. This bridge would look just right spanning the Kishwaukee River at IRM, wouldn't it? |
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ] |
| Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |
|
