Rating:
7 votes

BM - Connecticut River Bridge

Windham County, Vermont, and Cheshire County, New Hampshire

Photos 

B&M Connecticut River Bridge

Abandoned Boston & Maine bridge over the Connecticut River near Brattleboro, Vermont

Photo by Lexcie

License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA)

View this photo at Wikimedia Commons

BH Photo #305872

Map 

Street View 

Facts 

Overview
Abandoned Baltimore through truss bridge over Connecticut River on abandoned BM Fort Hill Branch
Location
Hinsdale, Windham County, Vermont, and Cheshire County, New Hampshire
Status
Derelict/abandoned
History
Built 1912 by the American Bridge Co.; Abandoned 1983
Builder
- American Bridge Co. of New York
Railroad
- Boston & Maine Railroad (BM)
Design
Two-span skewed Pin-connected Baltimore through truss with five deck plate girder approach spans
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 250.0 ft.
Total length: 905.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.83810, -72.54644   (decimal degrees)
42°50'17" N, 72°32'47" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
18/700514/4745756 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Brattleboro
Inventory number
BH 62073 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Abandoned (4,043)
American Bridge Co. (1,790)
Baltimore through truss (361)
Baltimore truss (405)
Boston & Maine Railroad (428)
Brattleboro, Vermont (15)
Built 1912 (909)
Built during 1910s (10,287)
Cheshire County, New Hampshire (81)
Connecticut River (118)
Curved (528)
Deck girder (6,699)
Girder (11,783)
Have street view (30,587)
Hinsdale, Vermont (1)
 New Hampshire (786)
Owned by state (16,802)
Pin-connected (5,505)
Plate girder (9,289)
Railroad (17,179)
Riveted (2,821)
Skewed (5,118)
Span length 250-500 feet (1,319)
State line crossing (967)
Through truss (19,311)
Total length 500-1000 feet (3,220)
Truss (38,697)
Vermont (761)
Windham County, Vermont (118)

Update Log 

  • October 3, 2022: New Street View added by Geoff Hubbs
  • September 5, 2021: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
  • May 21, 2017: Updated by Michael Quiet: Added pictures; Noted details
  • February 18, 2017: Updated by Christopher Finigan: Added category "Pin-connected"
  • August 29, 2015: Photo imported by Dave King
  • October 24, 2014: Photo imported by Ian Martin
  • July 29, 2014: Added by Ian Martin

Related Bridges 

Sources 

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Comments 

Abandoned BM (Fort Hill Branch) - Connecticut River Bridge
Posted May 21, 2017, by Michael Quiet (mquiet [at] gmail [dot] com)

This is by far the interesting railroad bridge I have yet to document. The scale and complexity of it was actually a bit staggering...especially in the context of a more rural part of the country where dual-tracked railroad bridges are non-existent (this is the only one in either VT or NH), and the scale of the single track ones never quite come to this level of heavy duty.

The design features are also quite unique. This is pretty late for a pin connected railroad bridge, giving it a elegant look with massive eye-bars and pins. Accounting to a very complex maneuver of crossing the river, the bridge executes 2 turns across the river, creating an even wider 1st span to accommodate the turn. Looking closer, you'll realize that the decking itself is actually built to incline into the curve, making it look crooked at first glance.

Well worth the visit. Wish they could convert this to a rail trail someday, the bridge itself is in excellent condition.