1877+1906: (no Archived Bridge Hunter, Historic Bridges mentions it with the other bridge; Satellite)
1906-1989,2022: (Archived Bridge Hunter, Historic Bridges, HAER, Satellite)The high bridge is is 1,561' (476m) long with a main span of 300' (91m). The truss is pin connected. [HistoricBridges]
To summarize the information below and in Bridge Hunter:
The lower level route was built in 1877 by the Baltimore & Washington Railroad and became the Columbia & Port Deposit Branch (C&PD) of Pennsy. In 1902, Pennsy decided to build a cutoff for freight traffic that would reduce the traffic on its 4-track mainline and reduce the grades to less than 1%. This cutoff was the Atglen & Susquehanna Branch or the Enola Low Grade Route. A flood in 1904 damaged the the C&PD bridge. Rather than repair that bridge, they built a new one as part of the Low Grade project. Note in Jack's photo below how the pier for the truss is part of the abutment for the girder bridge. A wooden trestle was used by the C&PD to bridge the river between 1904 and 1906 while the replacement was being constructed.
Conrail chose to use a Reading Railroad route for its Harrisburg-Philadelphia-Trenton traffic and abandoned the A&S branch in 1989. The route, and this high bridge, was rehabilitated as a trail in 2022. They added six clear floor panels to the bridge.
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| Jack Stoner posted On a humid and steamy June day in 1986 Conrail train MTPI - Metutchen, NJ - Pittsburgh,PA crosses the iconic PRR Low Grade trestle, (local parlance) at Safe Harbor, PA. The actual Conrail nomenclature for this line was the Enola Branch. Taken out of service in favor of the Reading RR route to northern NJ and NY and Phila. This well engineered line was downgraded, then abandoned in 1989 and finally the last iron was removed in 1990 - 91. [And a nice view of the Safe Harbor Dam.] |
"Significance: Hie Safe Harbor bridge is an unusual two-level structure built to carry two different Pennsylvania Railroad branches. The [1906] low-grade freight line on the upper level was chief engineer William H. Brown's last major project before retirement." [HAER_data]
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| Viral Media posted Conrail 7658 heads west under the massive girders of the Atglen & Susquehanna Branch bridge at Safe Harbor, PA in October 1979. This image by the great Victor Hand appears in the summer issue of Classic Trains magazine, part of the Center’s “Archive Treasures” series. This line is now part of Norfolk Southern, while the trestle is now a public trail. (Hand-NYC-PC-CR-C31-095) |
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| Collection of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society, Columbia, PA. from Conestogo River Bridge [I didn't notice that all of the piers were cut stone until I saw this photo.] |
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| HAER PA,36-SAHAR,1--9 from HAER PA,36-SAHAR,1- |
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| Robert Wanner posted Pennsylvania Railroad Atglen & Susquehanna Branch on overhead trestle along the river at Safe Harbor Dam and the PRR Port Road below in steam days prior to electrication. High trestle still stands as a hiking train in 2024. Hard to imagine the A&S once the double tracked freight bypass line for Philadelphia bound trains. Photo from Paul Hartline, not sure whether he took the photo. |
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| Mike Froio shared The mouth of the Conestoga River at Safe Harbor is crossed by two massive bridges of the former Pennsylvania Railroad. The higher span at left is the Atglen & Susquehanna Branch, part of the freight only Low Grade line between Enola and Morrisville completed in 1906. The lower span is the Columbia & Port Deposit Branch which makes the remote run down the Susquehanna, connecting with the PB&W in Perryville, Maryland. Safe Harbor is the location of a massive hydroelectric dam that still generates power for the electrified Northeast Corridor. Mike Froio A historical piece I wrote on the spans back in 2013. http://michaelfroio.com/.../conestoga-river-bridge-at... Douglas Allen Yes... The NEC's Catenary 25-Hz power is generated there. Amtrak has installed Static Invertors along the NEC, to also provide the needed 25-Hz power. (Commercial Electric Power is supplied at 60-Hz power). From Wash DC to NYC, the Catenary is 25-Hz, nominal 11kV, but usually measures closer to 13kV. Above NYC to NH, CN, the catenary is feed with 60-Hz @ 11kV (nominal), then from NH, CN. to Boston, the catenary is energized with 60-Hz @ 25kV. Sensing equipment on modern electric locomotives monitor the supplied catenary voltage, and re-configure the main transformer for the High or Lower Voltage, and the semiconductor's firing pulses are controlled in-phase with the catenary's frequency. PRR Electric Locomotives operated on the 25-Hz, 11-kV power. Woody Massara As a matter of interest, the yard office and car inspectors shed at West Yard were powered by this 25hz. system. You could just discern the slight flicker to the lights. Douglas Allen Mike Salvatore, The Catenary Voltage at the Wilm Shops Yard would measure at 13.5 kV most times, but was rated as 11-kV nominal. The transmission voltage is always boosted slightly to off-set voltage drop that occurs from distance from the source, andthe load that is being drawn from the catenary system during the time you read the voltage. When working in the Equipment Engineering Dept @ the Wilm Shops, I worked with the Electrical Engineer from Ogontz Co, located in Philadelphia, who was developing the Traction Motor Load Meters installed to the AEM-7 Locomotives. This modification was added to the AEM-7s just after they were undergoing their first 4-Yr Overhaul Program. In addition to the 4- LED Bar Graph meters, designed to indicate the load currents of each individual Traction Motor, a 5th Bar Graph Meter was installed to display the Catenary Voltage. This was done so the engineman could visual check to see that he had catenary voltage, in the event that the locomotive was not operating. Douglas Allen Woody Massara, I worked as the Foreman in the Relay Room at the Wilmington Shops (Electric Shop) for some years. The Electricians that performed the periodic inspection on the Cab Signal Test Loops at the West Yard, and several other locations, fell under my job. I would also accompany them to the West Yard to see the conditions of the wooden trunking installation for these Cab Signal Test Loops. Locomotives dragging an air hose, etc... would catch on the test loops and damage them. At on point, in the 1970's, I determined it was time to perform a new installation of these test loops. I had MOW Carpenters cut and fit new creosote soaked 2" x 4" lumber to the ties, within the gauge, and my electricians installed new copper wire in these frames. A 1" x 4" lumber cap would be installed after the new wire was installed. The Yard was owned by Conrail at this time, as it was shortly after Amtrak took over the management of the Wilm Shops. I remember that SEPTA was operating the old MP-54MU Car, as well as the early Silverliner Cars, from Philly, to Wilm, DE... and would stop at the West Yard, before returning North, back to Philly. At the West Yard, a Mechanical & Electrical Inspection test would be performed, that included a Cab Signal Departure Test. I hired on under the PC in 1970... and retired from the Wilm Shops, under Amtrak, in 2010. Mike Salvatore you are talking to someone who was a lineman then a Power director for 40 yrs. I know a whole lot about the system then you think. as for the bar meters, the so called experts never took into account that the meter was measuring the voltage at point of usage. just as I proved to the expects at Sieman's the acs64s wree tripping breakers at various point due to the un-natural chopped wave form being slammed back into the system causing the relay protection to chatter and activate when in regeneritive mode. Douglas Allen Mike Salvatore, I remember the growing pain with the sensitized AC power, generated by the new AC-Propulsion locomotives, to send power back to the Catenary wire during regenerative braking & maintaining their DC-link voltage. We had a problem with the AEM-7AC... they were literally "cooking" their roof-mounted resistors (ex-Dyn Brk Grids), when parked at Washington DC Station. I believe this was due to the same problem? A Mike Froio Presentation Announcement [It has a little higher resolution version of the photo.] |
Another view of the bridges:
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| Jack Stoner posted On a humid and steamy June day in 1986 Conrail train MTPI - Metutchen, NJ - Pittsburgh,PA crosses the iconic PRR Low Grade trestle, (local parlance) at Safe Harbor, PA. The actual Conrail nomenclature for this line was the Enola Branch. Taken out of service in favor of the Reading RR route to northern NJ and NY and Phila. this well engineered line was downgraded, then abandoned in 1989 and finally the last iron was removed in 1990 - 91. |
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| Metrotrails posted Safe Harbor Trestles over the mouth of the Conestoga River at the Susquehanna, Lancaster County Pa. The bridges were constructed in 1906. The lower line was originally the Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad, built in 1877, and became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The original lower Bridge washed out just about the same time, so the bridges are almost the same age. The upper bridge is the Enola Low Grade Line, officially the Atglen and Susquehanna Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, a mostly freight bypass of Lancaster. The Port Deposit Branch is still active, but the A&S Branch was abandoned in 1988. It is now Enola Low Grade Trail. The Safe Harbor Dam across the Susquehanna River was completed in 1931. Ron Baker: The guy who set fire to the then-newly installed wooden walking trail deck in 2018 (causing $3 million in damage), was just sentenced to 14 years of probation & ordered to pay $1 million. This according to today's LNP + LancasterOnline. It's great how our justice system works, huh? M'ke Helbing shared M'ke Helbing shared |
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| Paolo Fracassi posted An ex-Pennsy caboose brings up the rear of a ballast train as it wends its way westward on the Columbia & Port Deposit Branch in the vast amphitheater of the Susquehanna Valley. The train is cros... Railroad: Conrail Locomotive: Unknown Location: Safe Harbor, Pennsylvania, USA Locomotive #: Unknown Train ID: Unknown |
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| Roberval Filho commented on Paolo's post |
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| Metrotrails posted Safe Harbor Trestles over the mouth of the Conestoga River at the Susquehanna, Lancaster County Pa. The bridges were constructed in 1906. The lower line was originally the Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad, built in 1877, and became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The upper bridge is the Enola Low Grade Line, officially the Atglen and Susquehanna Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, a mostly freight bypass of Lancaster. The Port Deposit Branch is still active, but the A&S Branch was abandoned in 1988. It is now Enola Low Grade Trail. The very bottom bridge carried spur tracks used for Safe Harbor Dam completed in 1931. |
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| Metrotrails added [The description is the same as the above post.] |
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| Paolo Fracassi posted Although we'll never again see fallen-flag boxcars rumbling across the great PRR bridge at Safe Harbor, we soon might be able to walk across it. The conversion of the long-abandoned bridge to hik... Railroad: Conrail Locomotive: None Location: Safe Harbor, Pennsylvania, USA Locomotive #: N/A Train ID: CR PIMO Photo Date: April, 1986 |
This is the original C&PD bridge that got damaged by the 1904 flood.
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| MichaelFroio, Collection of the Lancaster County Historical Society [This link is well worth clicking. The above construction photo showing the falsework for the truss is also from that webpage.] "In 1930 construction would commence to build the northern most of three Depression Era hydroelectric dams along the Susquehanna River at Safe Harbor. Erected just above the confluence of the Conestoga River the first turbine went online in December of 1931 and by 1940 a total of seven were in operation. Two of these turbines were dedicated to generating the 25 Hz single-phase power required to feed the Pennsylvania Railroad’s newly electrified railroad. By 1938, the final phases of the electrification were complete and included the A&S, Port Road, Columbia branch and mainline west to Harrisburg. With the eastern mainline and freight network complete, power from Safe Harbor began supplying the PRR grid, with tethers of high voltage transmission lines mounted above the tracks, feeding various substations along the PRR’s electrified territory. The railroad understood the value of the Public Works project and the advantage of a renewable energy source. Today Safe Harbor operates 12 turbine generator units and continues to supply the Northeast passenger rail network today." |
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