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Sawmill Rift Railroad or Bolton Basin Railroad, Pike County

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Inventory Number: PA/38-52-08x / NY-36-05x
County: Pike County / Orange County
Township: Westfall - Deer Park
Town/Village: Millrift - Old Bolton
Bridge Name: Sawmill Rift Railroad or Bolton Basin Railroad
Crosses: Delaware River
Truss type: Uncovered McCallum (1-Through, 4-Pony)
Spans: 5
Length: 800'
Roadway Width:
Built: c1847
Builder:
When Lost: Unknown
Cause:
Latitude: N41 24.38
Longitude: W074 44.51
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: New York and Erie Railroad.

Sawmill Rift or Bolton Basin Bridge, Westfall-Deer Park, Pike County, PA. Built c1847
Harper's New York and Erie Rail-Road Guide Book, 1855, page 69

Sawmill Rift Railroad or Bolton Basin Railroad Bridge, Westfall-Deer Park, Pike County, PA. Built c1847
Todd Clark Collection

Comments:
On page 69 of Harper's New York and Erie Railroad Guide Book - 1855 is an illustration and information about this bridge. "This great structure is 800 feet long; it is built of wood, supported by arches of 160, 150 and 140 feet span and rests on piers of solid masonry. Its cost was $75,000.00." Evidently, the 350' section of this bridge not over the Delaware River was supported by some means other than trusswork. Sawmill Rift is now called Millrift on most of the maps and the structure presently at the site is four spans and scaling to approximately 660' on the Map 24 scale, with the easternmost pier on dry land. The dimensions of the present bridge don't match those of the previous, because the old bridge also crossed the Delaware and Hudson Canal on the New York side, which has been filled in at this area. Date and nature of loss is unknown. It was located between Deer Park Township, Orange County, New York and Westfall Township, Pike County, Pennsylvania on the New York and Erie Railroad, which was Conrail in 1981 and is now Norfolk and Southern Railway.

Sources:
Sullivan County Record (Jeffersonville), March 18, 1875.
The Evening Gazette (Port Jervis), March 17, 1890.
Kipphorn, Thomas. Information received by email, December 2007

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