1906 Two Pennsy Bridges over Conestoga River near Safe Harbor Dam

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.

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]

 

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)

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.]

HAER PA,36-SAHAR,1--9 from HAER PA,36-SAHAR,1-

Even though Conrail abandoned it, Norfolk Southern got it when Conrail was split up between NS and CSX.

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.

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

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.

Metrotrails added

[The description is the same as the above post.]

This is the original C&PD bridge that got damaged by the 1904 flood.

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."