Skip to main content

East Shoreham Covered Railroad Bridge - Vermont

 


Also known as the Richville Covered Bridge, the East Shoreham Covered Railroad Bridge in Shoreham, Vermont is one of just eight covered railroad bridges still in existence in the United States. The 108 foot long covered bridge was built in 1897 utilizing a Howe truss design and construction, crossing the Richville Pond on the Lemon Fair River and was part the former Addison Branch of the Rutland Railroad. The bridge features a clear span of 94 feet, 6 inches with a 21 foot high truss from the top of the upper chord to the bottom of the lower chord and a width of 14 feet between the trusses.

In 1870 the Addison County Railroad was chartered to build a line connecting the Rutland Railroad at Leicester Junction, Vermont, with the Delaware & Hudson Railroad at Ticonderoga, New York, a distance stretching at 15.6 miles. The line was laid out from Leicester Junction westward through the towns of Whiting, Shoreham and Orwell and then across Lake Champlain on a floating railroad bridge to Ticonderoga. In the southeast corner of Shoreham, the line crossed the Lemon Fair River, at a community known as Richville (formerly known as Rich's Mills). A bridge was built here to cross the Lemon Fair River in the autumn of 1871.

The date of construction of the present covered railroad bridge at East Shoreham is not conclusive as documented in known records. While the Addison County Railroad was building timber Howe truss bridges on the line in 1871, most modern sources state that the East Shoreham Covered Railroad Bridge was built in 1897. The East Shoreham Covered Railroad Bridge carried trains until 1951, when the Rutland Railroad decided to abandon the line due to a lack of traffic. In 1972, the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation took possession of the covered bridge in order to preserve it, especially with few remaining examples of railroad covered bridges. Restoration of the bridge happened in the fall of 1983 at a cost of $35,014, with work being done to reinforce the abutments, constructing a new deck constructed and replacing the roof and siding. The railroad tracks have been removed and replaced with a plank walkway for pedestrian and snowmobile traffic.







How to Get There:



Sources and Links:
Vermont Covered Bridge Society - East Shoreham Railroad Covered Bridge
The Travels of Tug 44 - East Shoreham Railroad Covered Bridge
Historic Structures - Shoreham Covered Railroad Bridge, Shoreham Vermont
Bridgehunter.com - East Shoreham Covered Railroad Bridge
Brandon Area Chamber of Commerce - Covered Bridge Tour Northern Route
Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development - Historic Bridges

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tulare Lake returns

During the winter of 2023 California experienced one of the wettest seasons in recent decades.  Enough snow and water were deposited into the Sierra Nevada Mountains that the runoff was enough to partially reform Tulare Lake within San Joaquin Valley.  Tulare Lake was once the largest lake west of the Mississippi River by surface area.  Tulare Lake has been largely dried for the past century due to irrigation divisions and upstream impoundments.  This blog will examine the history of Tulare Lake and its recent return.  Pictured as the blog cover is Tulare Lake from 19th Avenue in Kings County during early May 2023.  Tulare Lake can be seen near its maximum extent below on the 1876 P.Y. Baker Map of Tulare County .   Part 1; the history of Tulare Lake Tulare Lake is the largest remnant of Lake Corcoran.  Lake Corcoran once covered much of the entire Central Valley due to being it being located at a in natural low point from where mountain run-off would accumulate.  Lake Corcoran is thou

Former US Route 101 through Sargent

  Sargent is a ghost town and siding of the Southern Pacific Railroad located in southern Santa Clara County.  The original alignment of US Route 101 was aligned through Sargent via what is now known as Old Monterey Road.  Sargent was bypassed gradually due to shifts of the alignment of US Route 101 which occurred during 1941 and 1950.  Pictured as the blog cover is a view on Old Monterey Road which is now no longer accessible to the general public.  Below is a scan of the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Santa Clara County which depicts the original alignment US Route 101 through Sargent.   Part 1; the history of US Route 101 in Sargent Sargent lies on land which was once part of Rancho Juristac.  During 1856 James P. Sargent purchased Rancho Juristac and plotted what was known as Sargent Ranch.  By 1869 the Southern Pacific Railroad coast line reached the relocated town site of Gilroy.  The Southern Pacific Railroad coast line would be constructed through Chittenden Pass by 1871 whic

California State Route 60/Former US Route 60/70 through the Moreno Valley Badlands west to Riverside

This past month I drove California State Route 60 through the Moreno Valley Badlands westward towards the City of Riverside.  CA 60 through the Moreno Valley Badlands was once part of the corridors of US Route 60 and US Route 70. The present route of CA 60 is a 70 mile (76 counting multiplex) slice of former US 60 between downtown Los Angeles east to I-10 near Beaumont.  The vast majority of CA 60 aside from a small section in the Moreno Valley Badlands is presently a freeway grade. For me CA 60 holds some personal history as it was the route I used most frequently accessing work sites in the Inland Empire circa 2011-2013.  Despite what many others probably would say I always really enjoyed the Moreno Valley Badlands portion of CA 60.  Considering I frequently worked on US 60 through Arizona and New Mexico the route holds even more appeal.  I even have a CA 60 shield hanging up in my garage. Part 1; History of Roadways in the Moreno Valley Badlands CA 60 between B