Or call this ‘DASH-9 in the Woods’.
Friday (July 5, 2019), I was rambling about with my cousin Stella—visiting from California—when we paused at Bardwell’s Ferry,.
The ferry is long gone. Instead a well-preserved pin-connected lenticular truss bridge carries the road over Massachusetts’ Deerfield River.
While we were photographing the bridge and river, I thought my ears tricked me; the rushing water sounded remarkably like a distant freight.
Since this wasn’t a serious rail-photo excursion, I hadn’t brought my scanner.
I went back to the car to get my omnipresent notebook, when I heard a whistle!
The flashers on Bardwell’s Ferry road illuminated, and sure enough there was an eastward Pan Am Southern freight approaching!
Working with my FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm zoom lens, I exposed this series of photos.
I assume that this was symbol freight 16R which forwards Norfolk Southern traffic from Enola (Pennsylvania) and East Binghamton (New York) to Pan Am’s East Deerfield Yard. Without a scanner or positive confirmation, guess is all I can do.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Nice photos, Brian. I hope Cousin Stella appreciated incidental rail-fanning…….! I know the diesel-smoke enhances the first 3 pictures, but…….it doesn’t say much for NS’s engine maintenance! No good having eco-friendly GEs if you don’t give them regular TLC!
The bridge is c1880s. If you google ‘Lenticular truss’ all sorts of information comes up. I can’t say how much is accurate.
The bridge at Bardwell’s Ferry is on the only one that I’ve ever seen like it, although there is a much smaller lenticular truss in West Warren, Mass, but that is not a through ‘box’ truss and uses lenticular side members.
Looks like the Smithfield St bridge in Pittsburgh. Same engineer (Lindenthal)? Are there many more of these beauties extant?