Conrail - Clarion Trestle
Photos
South side of span looking across the Clarion River
Photo taken by Brian Manville in July 2016
BH Photo #366383
Description
The bridge is located in Monroe Township south of Clarion with one access to the bridge from Piney Dam Road and climbing a hill and walking about 1/2 mile through a tunnel. This is how my son and I got to the bridge. There is also supposedly access off SR 4001 on the north side. There is debris to climb over on the south side of the south tunnel but then the ground is flat. A flashlight would be a good idea when going through the tunnel.This bridge is part of an abandoned railroad line. The railroad line this bridge served enters long tunnels on both ends of the bridge. This bridge is a very impressive high level bridge with very large pin-connected deck truss spans, supported by riveted steel bents, which in turn rest on concrete. The concrete substructure bears the date 1928. HistoricBridges.org currently lists this as the construction date for the bridge. However it is possible that the deck truss superstructure is older. The truss spans have a somewhat older and more lightweight appearance than the bents which support them.
Unless you have a drone or come to the bridge from the Clarion River, sight lines for the sides of the bridge are limited.
The truss spans may be older than they appear. The bridge was designed to accommodate two tracks, however at the time it was abandoned, the bridge was decked for only one track.
(Some information courtesy of HistoricBridges.com)
Facts
- Overview
- Baltimore deck truss bridge over Clarion River on Conrail
- Location
- Clarion County, Pennsylvania
- Status
- Intact but closed to all traffic
- History
- Built 1908 by King Bridge Co.
- Builders
- - Albert Lucius of New York City, New York
- King Bridge Co. of Cleveland, Ohio
- Railroads
- - Conrail (CR)
- Franklin & Clearfield Railroad (F&C)
- Jamestown, Franklin & Clearfield Railroad (JF&C)
- New York Central Railroad (NYC)
- Penn Central Railroad (PC)
- Design
- Steel 10 Panel, Pin-Connected Baltimore Deck Truss, Fixed
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 270.0 ft.
Total length: 845.0 ft.
- Also called
- PC
NYC - Clarion Trestle
JF&C - Clarion Trestle
PC - Clarion Trestle
Clarion Secondary Railroad Bridge
F&C - Clarion Trestle - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +41.18200, -79.45639 (decimal degrees)
41°10'55" N, 79°27'23" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 17/629464/4560109 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Clarion
- Inventory number
- BH 73987 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- January 9, 2020: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
- June 14, 2017: Updated by Luke: Added build date and builder
- June 13, 2017: New Street View added by Luke
- June 13, 2017: Updated by Fmiser: cleaned up categories
- October 2, 2016: New video from Brian Manville
Sources
- Brian Manville
- Fmiser - fmiser [at] gmail [dot] com
- Luke
- The Railway Age, Volume 45 - Book
- Clarion Secondary Railroad Bridge - HistoricBridges.org
- Geoff Hubbs
Comments
I ran many trains thru these tunnels and over this bridge. Such a beautiful track thru the Penns Woods.
I forgot to say that if you want to see this video on you-tube it is listed under the caption abandoned Pa railroad tunnels filmed by lakeshoretrains who taped it 8 months ago.
I just saw a video on you-tube of this tunnel and trestle.the tunnel does have some deterioration in and around it but it is passable according to what i saw in the video.As for the trestle the people who were filming only went halfway and decided to go back the way they came.the guy filming did say there is a fenced off tunnel on the other side.Couldn't tell from the video on which side of tunnel they parked on.These people when they did decide to go on the trestle did walk on the ties where the steel beams were underneath.Smart move but still dangerous.I surely don't condone walking on abandoned trestles.
I have lived near this trestle for the past few years and I've been watching the slow deterioration of the tunnel on the Piney Dam Rd. side due to erosion. As of February 2017 it's still passable, but I fear it's days are numbered. Needless to say, the tunnel should be considered dangerous. I've taken some medium format black and white photos of the deck of the trestle from the most common view. Eventually I'd like to get a photo or two from down at river level.
To get here it is a trek through an abandoned tunnel full of water. Then you must find a way to cross the bridge if you wish to...
I wouldn't though. These have been abandoned for years and you don't know when it will cave through...
I made my yearly trip up the turnpike with 2 friends. We went to the bridge but no further, sense we don't know anything about it. I have tons of pictures and even a video, but I do not wish to post them. Bye!
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/pa/clarion/bh73987/
Picture taken September 2020