Bridging the Gap: A Short History of the Cumberland Valley RR Bridge

When it was officially opened ceremoniously for traffic on January 16, 1839, the Susquehanna River bridge, also referred to as the Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge, was intended to connect the Cumberland Valley with the Harrisburg and Lancaster Railroad. It originally spanned between Mulberry Street in Harrisburg and Bridgeport (later renamed Lemoyne in 1905). The completed bridge’s masonry was accomplished by Messrs. Wm. & James Cameron, with Messr. J. & J. S. Lee found to be the contractors responsible for the western abutments and piers, and James Madden gaining credit for six piers in the middle. After its completion, the Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge “spanned 4,300 feet [and] comprised of 22 spans with an average length of 195 feet (Watt, 34).” Original planning of a bridge to cross the Susquehanna began in the spring of 1836 with masonry work commencing (Westhaeffer, 12). When the bridge was completed in at the end of 1838, locals considered it an “outstanding engineering project of the time and another major achievement” for Chief Engineer and builder of the Cumberland Valley Railroad, William Minor Roberts (Westhaeffer, 10). Due to the bridge being constructed from wood, fire or sparks were always a hazard for the bridge from the steam locomotives.

Tragedy struck on Wednesday, December 4, 1844 with the burning and total destruction of the Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge that left two dead and several severely injured, one of which was as young as “12 to 14 years old (Watts, 35)”. Although the fire left railroading operations mostly intact, “passengers [were] carried across the old bridge at Harrisburg, in omnibuses or carriages, where they will take the car and go forward without delay (Watt, 34).” The transportation of freight also remained unchanged, apart from some delays and an additional expense of transporting across the river at “37 ½ ¢ per ton (Watts, 34).” The Board of Managers for the Cumberland Valley Railroad expressed no hesitation in the rebuilding of the bridge, much to the delight of the agricultural and business interests of those within Cumberland County and other surrounding counties.        

The second bridge that was to replace the charred superstructure wasn’t completed until May 1, 1847, more than two years after the Cumberland Valley Railroad bridge had originally burned. With the original price of the bridge costing $130,000, the second bridge would cost $110,000, with $15,000 being “required to replace the work destroyed by several accidents (Watt, 36-37).” In an effort to ensure that a fiery disaster never destroys the bridge in the future, all railway cars, regardless of whether freight or passenger, were to be drawn across by teams or mules or horses westward. Traffic going eastward would simply be moved by gravity, as there was a grade of 35 feet between Bridgeport (Lemoyne) and Harrisburg (Watts, 37). Further work was done to the bridge in order to strengthen it due to the growing size and weight of locomotives, such as stronger chords and trusses, as well as additional arches.

Starting in September of 1886, plans and contracts were already being drawn up for a new bridge. The current Cumberland Valley Railroad bridge was originally made out of wood over 40 years prior, and hauling traffic over the bridge was an area for concern since locomotives were much smaller in the 1840s. The new bridge would be constructed from iron, to better allow more traffic and newer, and larger, locomotives. The construction was split between two companies; the western half of the bridge was to be under the construction of the Union Bridge company of New York, while the eastern side was to be constructed by the Edge Moore Iron company of Wilmington, Delaware (Watts, 39). The total cost of the all the work amounted to roughly $225,000, and the bridge was soon completed in May 1887 (Watts, 39). One unexpected outcome was the bridge only aligned with the Cumberland Valley Railroad, which meant any trains from the North Central tracks would be required to use a wye track once they pulled onto mainland in Bridgeport (Lemoyne). A section of curve track was installed 15 years later in October 1902 which eliminated the need for trains to use the wye train, which would ultimately save both the Cumberland Valley Railroad and the North Central Railroad valuable time traversing the Susquehanna river.

The fourth, and current rendition of the Cumberland Valley Railroad bridge was not fully completed until May 1917. Work began in 1915 with the construction of concrete arches while simultaneously moving sections the 3^rd Iron bridge to the northern section of the bridge that made contact with Harrisburg. The use of concrete meant the bridge would be able to support more weight, allowing the bridge to handle two tracks running its length. The southern end was completed first with the northern section following shortly. To move the steel structure of the Iron Bridge, the bridge was hoisted 9” with jacks and rolled at the same time as a single unit over fifteen piers. The curved track section was also removed, and the Cumberland side was straightened. Ultimately the bridge cost $850,000, with 175 men working with an estimated 56,000 cubic yards of concrete for the bridge’s piers (Watts, 41). The Pennsylvania Steel Company, under the supervision of Mr. J. B. Fraim, had the contract for the construction under the watchful eye of Mr. T. B. Kennedy, an engineer for the railroad. After all tracks were in place, the tamping of the railroad ballast was done through contractor Robert Grace Company, of Pittsburgh (Watts, 42).

Currently, the Cumberland Valley Railroad bridge remains intact, albeit abandoned. With rail passenger service declining due to airlines, track no. 1 was taken out of service, effective 3:01 p.m., Monday December 31^st, 1956 (Watts, 43). Passenger service didn’t truly end on the bridge until May 1^st, 1971 with Amtrak taking over passenger operation from the Penn Central Railroad. Although unknown, the last train movement speculated over the bridge is thought to have been a move of electrical locomotives between Enola and Harrisburg between late 1981 to early 1982 (Watts, 43).