The P&WV Hi-Line

camp car bill · Joined: 11 Mar 2007 Posts: 87 Location: carnegie pa

Bower Hill Bridge

Going through some of JZ posts I came across one dated Fri. Nov. 2005 which had a picture of a WE grain train coming east acroos Bower Hill Bridge. This confirms my position on long ties on Bridge 60.26. This bridge was orginaly constructed for double track using three trusses in this spot. In my time it has always been used as a single track bridge.Which required longer than normal single track ties.
A picture is worth a 1000 words.

In 1961 the Bridge Gang with two cranes was to remove the idle truss,in the process a sling on the hook up broke and the truss fell on the Chartiers Branch of the PRR and Old Bower Hill Road below.At that time the road was on the south side of bridge.

Now what I will always remember about this bridge.During 1953 while renewing the steel on the three tower spans on the east end of bridge,we were working under the bridge when we heard a west bound out of Rook whistle and throw on the air. We wasted no time getting out of there.We went to top of bridge and saw a pre school age boy seting on the edge of a tie in the middle of bridge with the train seting there also.He camly got up an walked along the edge of ties and train to the dump.God must of been with that boy that day.At the time there was no walkway on the bridge.

CCB

Also while working on this bridge in 1953,I saw my last PWV steam engine in freight service,an east bound going to Rook.
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wmmjr

PWVBen · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 5

Does anyone know what the old Bower Hill highway bridge looked like ?
It used to be just south of the P&WV Bower Hill RR bridge.

Longview Station · Joined: 16 Apr 2005 Posts: 176 Location: Longview Station

If your talking about the thru truss located there on Vanadium road before re-alignment, I have a photo of it from the Allegheny County Archives. I can email it to you.
VW

ktrick45 · Joined: 21 Apr 2005 Posts: 16 Location: Bower Hill

If you have a facebook account, check out the photos on the "We're from Scott...We're kind of a big deal" group. There's a newspaper clip from the time it was about to be torn down, and in one of my photos, you can kinda make out the profile. I was actually taking a picture of the ice on the creek. I also have a few of the P&WV viaduct on that group.