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Cheshire Railroad, Cheshire County

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Inventory Number: NH/29-03-23x / VT-13-55x
County: Cheshire County / Windham County
Township: Walpole - Rockingham
Town/Village: North Walpole - Bellows Falls
Bridge Name: Cheshire Railroad
Crosses: Connecticut River
Truss type: Howe/Burr
Spans: 2
Length: 280'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1849
Builder: Lucius Boomer
When Lost: 1899
Cause: Replaced
Latitude: N43 08.14
Longitude: W072 26.41
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: At Bellows Falls.

Cheshire Railroad Bridge, Walpole, NH - Bellows Falls, VT (Built 1849 - Lost 1899)
Richard E. Roy Collection

Cheshire Railroad Bridge, Walpole, NH - Bellows Falls, VT (Built 1849 - Lost 1899)
New England Covered Bridges Datebook (1970), Colonial Publishing owned by Phyllis Wells

Comments:
This double-track bridge was designed by Henry Campbell of Pennsylvania, who built a number of covered bridges in the Northeast, including several across the Connecticut River. The twin portals were outlined with stonework. It was built under the supervision of Lucius Boomer, who later built the first bridge over the Mississippi River at Rock Island, IL. The siding was designed to show off the sweep of the interior arches. The bridge was declared unsafe in 1899 and replaced with a stone structure. In a photo taken during dismantlement the truss appears as a Long Truss with Arch. Per the Barre Evening Telegram, December 1, 1899, "The last of the old Fitchburg railroad bridges at Bellows Falls has been pushed off in the Connecticut river and a bonfire made of it. Work was begun on the new arch bridge Sept. 10 and it will be finished in about three weeks. The need of a new bridge has been felt for some time and the work has been pushed with remarkable speed. It is built over a narrow part of the river where the water has worn a bed through the solid rock. The banks are ledges and the piers of the old bridge stand on the eternal stone. The spans of the old bridge, 110 feet each, made it one of the old time wonders of bridge building and the new one that is replacing it has arches of the same span and these, too, are the longest stone railroad arches in the United States, the old bridge was 38 feet wide, carrying two tracks, while the new one Is only 27 feet wide and will also have two tracks."

Sources:
Barre Evening Telegram, December 1, 1899.
Allen, Richard S. & Morse Victor. Windham County's Famous Covered Bridges, 1960, page 30
Knoblock, Glenn A.. New Hampshire Covered Bridges, 2002, page 24
Connecticut River Valley Covered Bridge Society. Bulletin, Volume X, No. 1 (Summer 1963), page 3
Connecticut River Valley Covered Bridge Society. Bulletin, Volume X, No. 1, Summer 1963, page 3

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