PRR - Thompsontown Haupt Bridge
Description
Designed by Herman Haupt c.1854. Haupt was Chief Engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad from around 1848 until 1856. First installed in Vendevander, PA, it was part of five sequential spans consisting of three trusses each, carrying two railroad tracks. One span was moved to Thompsontown, PA in 1889 where it served as a road bridge over the tracks until 1984, when it was moved to the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum.Facts
- Overview
- Haupt pony truss
- Location
- Altoona, Blair County, Pennsylvania
- Status
- Restoration underway off prperty.
- History
- Moved here in 1984
- Builders
- - Herman Haupt of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- PRR Altoona Shops
- Design
- Haupt pony truss
- Dimensions
-
Total length: 102.0 ft.
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +40.51382, -78.40102 (decimal degrees)
40°30'50" N, 78°24'04" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 17/720188/4488034 (zone/easting/northing)
- Inventory numbers
- HAER PA-207
BH 87172 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Sources
- Chester Gehman - gehmanc2000 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Altoona Railway Museum Club: The Herman Haupt Bridge - One of the Last Herman Haupt Bridges, Owned by the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum.
Comments
Nathan:
No offense taken. Discussions like this only increase our knowledge about our favorite topic. Your 3rd view is, I believe, a railroad car truck a little NE of the object in question, and close behind the aft end of a locomotive.. We do know that the bridge is, or perhaps was, on the property. As I said, it APPEARS to me to be the bridge--maybe not. Someone has to go and look. It would be a little bit of a hike for me, although not impossible. Has anyone asked the people at the museum?
Chet
Chet,
It was not my intent to offend, I just was not sure I was understanding what you had stated correctly. The area in question (noted by arrow) is about 21 feet x 7 feet in lateral dimensions so if it is the Haupt truss it is either very meticulously disassembled and stored, or this is only a portion of the truss. I poked through some photos on Google and found some photos that MIGHT be of the area in question. Im not sure of the 3rd photo.
Nathan:
Read my entry again. "A Google Earth view appears to show it across the turntable pit from the roundhouse between two locomotives." It is at the foot of the red crossover over the tracks. The Google Earth view that I posted was merely an indicator where to look on Google, where it is possible to zoom in further.
Anonymous: It doesn't look like a pile of metal to me but an on-site investigation would clear that up. I am unaware of any other reference on this site concerning this bridge.
I will be happy to remove any part of the listing that is in error.
Chet
The pile of metal is the bridge, and according to another listing on here, this one is incomplete.
I am confused, the turntable bridge at this museum is a deck plate girder not a Haupt truss. Where is the Haupt truss in the aerial photo referenced? I see a pile of unknown steel/iron next to the south end of the red pedestrian overpass, is that where we are looking? If this Haupt truss survives I would be very interested to know more.
This looks like the bridge
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/pa/blair/haupt-truss/
This bridge is not on the property at this time. I was in error in thinking so. After contacting the museum, I have learned that in the mid-1990's it was transferred to a contractor (reportedly in Nebraska?) for a gratis restoration. They hope to raise $75,000 to bring it back to the museum and install it on a bridge foundation in the yard. To this date it is still with the contractor.