About 4 miles (~6.5 km) NW from Port Jervis, NY, between Sparrowbush, NY and Millrift, Pa., is a 165 year old “deck truss” style steel railroad bridge built to extend the NY and Erie Railroad; a project chartered in 1832, to connect Piermont, NY (Hudson River) to Dunkirk, NY, (Lake Erie.) This rusty, erector set – like artifact continues to carry freight trains across the Delaware River today, along well maintained rails.
On a recent visit, we were intrigued with the massive nuts and bolts used to tie the steel together. What particularly interested me was the thought of….how large the open-ended Craftsman wrench must have been and, really now, how large was that guy that built it in 1848? Seriously!
Ha! The same kind of questions cross my mind. I’m guessing huge and huge! Nice photos!
Men, who built it, must have been real professionals.
Just think of the specialized knowledge that was required to design and build a bridge like that.
A bit down the river is a bridge by the famed John Roebling, who designed the Brooklyn Bridge 131 years ago . Considering feats like these without the tools available today. These indeed were very special men! M. Thanks for viewing.
My father was assigned to guard this bridge shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack. After the war he found a job in Port Jervis, NY and made his home in Matamoras, PA