The Walnut Creek Trail ducks under this old railroad bridge near Lake Wheeler Road. The rail line supported here starts at the Wye, near Boylan Heights, crosses over Western Blvd, and goes through the Dix Campus before heading south to Fayetteville. A southbound freight train usually passes in the late afternoon.
There are two old RR bridges on the Walnut Creek Trail. This bridge and the bridge near Hammond Rd. are of an age. The Hammond Rd bridge is on a busier rail line and features signage indicating that it was completed in 1917.
The greenway crossing under both these bridges speaks to flexibility on the part of the city and the railroads. A boardwalk structure with a tin roof allows the trail to pass under the rail line in a fashion that doesn’t meet the typical ‘withstand a falling locomotive’ criteria. All greenway users are appreciative of the flexibility and creativity shown in the above solutions.
By contrast, the new rail bridge in Morrisville was a multimillion dollar project that created a new multi line rail bridge with a wide concrete trail. This bridge/underpass, like the bridge at Davis Drive Park, represent a new generation of infrastructure. Here’s to hoping that the increased costs of these new projects don’t prevent more from being built.