RDG = Reading Railroad
DBMN = Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad
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| HAER PA,6-READ.V,2--8 (CT) 8. ELEVATION VIEW, LOOKING EAST, WITH TRAIN ON BRIDGE. - Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, Peacock's Lock Viaduct, Spanning Schuykill River at Reading Railroad, Reading, Berks County, PA |
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| I Love Trains posted photo courtesy of Bob Krug - Photo by Bob Krug. Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Santa train crossing the Schuylkill River on Peacock's Lock Bridge. The stone arch bridge incorporated pierced spandrels, uncommon in North America. Steam Locomotive 425; 4-6-2 wheel arrangement built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. Tim Shanahan shared |
The above photo shows the rough stone piers on which the arches were built. These arches replaced the 1839 wooden trusses. The circular openings are called oculi and they reduce the weight that the foundations have to support. Gustavus Nicolls was the Philadelphia & Reading Superintendent. He first proposed replacing the troublesome wood bridge in 1848, submitted a sketch for a replacement in 1852 and got the directors approval in 1853. [ReadingEagle, HAER-data]
Significance: The Peacock's Lock Viaduct, named after a nearby lock on the Schuylkill Division Canal, may be the only masonry arch bridge in the U.S. with pierced spandrels. The circular openings between arches lighten the structure in both weight and appearance. [HAER]Several of the nine arches are over the land north of the river, but they are hidden by the trees in the satellite image.
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| HAER PA,6-READ.V,2--1 1. OVERVIEW, LOOKING WEST. - Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, Peacock's Lock Viaduct, Spanning Schuykill River at Reading Railroad, Reading, Berks County, PA |
This Little Peacock Bridge served as a prototype for the one over the Schuylkill Valley.
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| Street View |
Peacock Lock was a double-chamber lock, numbers 39 and 40 on the Schuylkill Canal, on the north side and downstream (West) from the bridge. But I have not been able to find the ruins. Are they covered by the tree canopy?
The ruins are difficult to get to; the woods are thick. I happened to be with someone who knew the landowner and we checked it out.
ReplyDeleteI visited during my tour biking trip to Mr Daniel Helffer. Was a wonderful surprise to be just at the base of this arches! Not hard to get in a GPS. Or Google map. Go and visit. Some garbage was left at one side.
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