Flood Badly Damages Wilmington and Western RR *PIC*

Tom Gears · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2003 5:17 pm

The Wilmington and Western RR suffered severe damage today due to flooding in the Red Clay Valley. There are several locations where the roadbed has been washed out and the two trestles at Wooddale along with the Wooddale covered bridge have been badly damaged.

I was not able to get to other areas for photos due to closed or washed out roads. More information and photos to come.

Tom Gears
Wilmington, DE

Wilmington and Western RR

Tom Gears · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2003 5:18 pm

Wilmington and Western RR

Tom Gears · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2003 5:20 pm

Wilmington and Western RR

Tom Gears · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2003 5:21 pm

The railroad is in the background and the roadbed is damaged. The bridge was often photographed from the train.

Wilmington and Western RR

Tom Gears · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2003 5:22 pm

Wilmington and Western RR

Tom Gears · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2003 5:25 pm

This is the Faulkland Road crossing. You can see how high the water was at the height of the flood.

Wilmington and Western RR

Kevin Gillespie · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2003 5:53 pm

This is horrible. I know that their line was badly damaged by a storm about two years ago. I pray that Isabella won't do any worse damage.

I tried to get up there a couple of times this summer and didn't quite make it. Now I hope I'll get the opportunity to do so next year.

kevin.r.gillespie@verizon.net

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2003 7:38 pm

The West Chester Railroad is also in the same area as this rainfall (up to 8" in some spots, according to reports). I have no reports so far--many of the news sources in that area are being slow to report hard data, understandably.

LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

Al Patterson · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2003 7:56 pm

Thanks for the news. I was thinking when I looked at the stream behind my apartment that I hadnt seen water that high since Floyd.

I'm heading down NOW to check out what I can.

acp19809@yahoo.com

Al Patterson · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2003 9:03 pm

Actually, Floyd was in 1999, so that was four years ago, not two. I just tried to get down to the station and all the roads were closed. I'll try again tomorrow.

> This is horrible. I know that their line was
> badly damaged by a storm about two years
> ago. I pray that Isabella won't do any worse
> damage.

> I tried to get up there a couple of times
> this summer and didn't quite make it. Now I
> hope I'll get the opportunity to do so next
> year.

acp19809@yahoo.com

Al Patterson · **Posted:** Tue Sep 16, 2003 8:27 am

I hope I don't get in too much trouble, but here is a section of the email I received this morning from the General Manager of the Wilmington & Western. ( I am a volunteer there, looks like more hours are coming. )

"I regret to inform you that we have been washed out again. As you may be aware form news casts and the internet, major heavy rains occurred up in PA Sunday night into Monday morning. which resulted in massive flooding of the Red Clay Creek. Beyond even what Floyd did. We have lost 7A (Hercules), 8B (Wooddale), 10A (Mt Cuba) and the S ( RT 82) trestle to our current knowledge. All rebuilt steel enforced bridges from the Hurricane Floyd flood of 1999 held on but there is some damage to the approaches. A full inspection and evaluation will take some time.

The Historic Wooddale Cover bridge also was destroyed.

At Greenbank, water did breach and enter the station but mostly water and mud on floor. Museum is fine. Field bathroom building which survived Floyd did not survive and is completely gone."

acp19809@yahoo.com

Al Patterson · **Posted:** Tue Sep 16, 2003 5:52 pm

I was so sick when I read the e-mail I excerpted above I took the afternoon off and wandered down to check what I could. I did see the S trestle and 8B, both are gone. 8A was moved a bit downstream. The Wooddale Cut has a lot of damage also. (For those not at the W&W, 8A and 8B are on either side of the rock cut.) I was not able to get back to the other two, as Mt. Cuba Road was closed and I didn't want to walk all the way to the Hurcules bridge.

Driving along route 82, there were a lot of places where the tracks are hanging a foot or so in the air.

Now I never did the same after Floyd, so I can't compare the two. I'll leave that to the senior management of the railroad. I will however quote a co-worker at my day job. She would say: "This is bad. Very bad."

Let's hope for another miracle...

acp19809@yahoo.com

Paul Calpin · **Posted:** Wed Sep 17, 2003 9:17 am

I sent an e-mail to the workers at the W and W yesterday, asking about fund raising. Here is the response. I will not post the sender's name though, because I do not have that person's permission for that.

Thank you for your concern and interest. The new steel bridges seem to be in good order - all the wooden trestles have suffered enormous damage - many are not standing at all. At this point we are just waiting to see what the next few days bring - Any fundraising efforts will be posted on our web site.

The first bridge that is out appears to be the one behind Hercules.

__________________________________________________
That's all they said. Hopefully, after the inspection, and after the Hurricane passes, they will be able to get help to rebuild. Perhaps, after some trackwork, they may still be able to go as far as Hecules, which is a couple of miles. They couldn't do that after Floyd, becausethe bridge immediately after the station was washed out. The Wilmington and Western does not have insurance on their line, they even didn't before Floyd, because it's too expensive. To continue operations, they don't have to worry about their insurance company dropping them, just getting the money donated, or from FEMA????

Anyway, I know they did consider after Floyd, trucking the Railcar down the road to Hochessin, the other side of the line, and operating from the station there, backwards to Ashland or to the damged areas. That end of the line is fine. Perhaps the Railroad will need to move their operations there. It would be difficult, because they only have a station there, and the locomotives and cars would have to be trucked, but it may be needed.

They could also try to get a short term lease to operate on the Octoraro Railroad, they have done that in the past.

Paul

plc95@yahoo.com

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Wed Sep 17, 2003 6:28 pm

> They could also try to get a short term
> lease to operate on the Octoraro Railroad,
> they have done that in the past.

Octararo operations were, how shall we put it, several managements ago. Since the last time the W&W operated on former OCTR property that I remember, an excursion operation started up on the line and later found itself shut down (most of the equipment went to the West Chester RR). Since then, the Brandywine Valley Ry. (an outlet of the former Beth Steel operation in Coatesville, in practicality) has assumed operation of the north-south ex-Reading line. It has, for all practical purposes, attempted to jettison the former PRR Nottingham-Chadds Ford line (which I think is STILL owned by commuter agency SEPTA); in the past month, railfan-friendly Morristown & Erie has assumed operations on this section. I have heard various reports of track neglect on this section, as well as a large steel trestle (Elkview) viewed by some as being in dubious condition.

So, nothing's impossible, but I would wonder whether the W&W could be easily transported, temporarily or permanently, to the former OCTR for any long-term operation.

LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

James F. Boylan · **Posted:** Thu Sep 18, 2003 3:03 pm

> the former PRR
> Nottingham-Chadds Ford line (which I think
> is STILL owned by commuter agency SEPTA)

It is owned by S.E.P.T.A., all the way from the
Maryland state line East to the connection with
S.E.P.T.A.'s West Chester Branch.
I'm not sure who owns the Maryland portion West
to the connection with Norfolk Southern's
Columbia & Port Deposit Branch. Most of the rail
with rotten ties is in place as far West as the
connection with the Navy's railroad to Bainbridge
(which is gone). Beyond there, only bridges
remain.

TyburnRR@cs.com