It was reconstructed in 1935, 1941 and 1944. It has been out-of-service since 2008. [Bridge Hunter] Wikipedia lists the rebuild times as 1913, 1924, 1934 and 1943, which makes more sense since wood would deteriorate at regular intervals. But I wonder how they treated it for the WWII reconstruction so that it lasted over half a century.
I've seen figures of 98' and 102' for the height. The length is a little under 1000'. This route was originally built as a spur to support a logging operation in Wilburton. Before the Ballard Locks lowered Lake Washington in 1916, the trestle crossed Mercer Slough, which was a navigable waterway that was used to ship logs out of the area. The logging spur grew into a beltline railroad so that through freight trains could bypass rail congestion in Seattle. There are plans to repurpose the right-of-way as a trail. This trestle would be the centerpiece of that trail. The beltline traffic disappeared around 1980, but BNSF continued to use the track as an industrial spur including delivering fuselages to Boeing assembly plant in Renton from Wichita, KS. But the widening of I-405 severed the route in 2008. BNSF has sold the route to various government entities, and the route is now known as the Eastside Rail Corridor. The plan is that some parts of the trail should share the route with light rail. The name is considered a placeholder until a trail name is determined. [MyNorthwest, SquareSpace] I wonder how BNSF now gets those fuselages to Renton. I found it already has had a name change to Eastrail. [bellevuewa] This route seems to be an another example of a government official wanting a trail and causing the destruction of the railroad. [EastsideRailNow-route]
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| Street View |
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| Steven J. Brown posted The Spirit of Washington Dinner Train crosses the Wilburton Trestle in Bellevue, Washington - August 29, 1993. Ginger Dawgg: BNSF should have kept that line in case something blocks the line by King St. Station. Frank Latraverse: Ginger Dawgg High profile land owners won that fight, the expansion of the 405 freeway was their ace in the hole. |
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| EastRailNow-trestle Wilburton Trestle is the most spectacular feature of the Eastside railroad. Despite the rural appearance, it is located only about a mile from downtown Bellevue. Wilburton Trestle is the largest wooden trestle in the Northwest. It was originally constructed in 1904, and the area below it was an arm of Lake Washington until the lake was lowered in 1916. The trestle is used daily, including by the Spirit of Washington dinner train and by freight trains. (Photo: Eastside Rail Now!) |
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| Ron Tutt posted |
This road was cut through the trestle in 1971.
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| Street View |
To create a trail, a trail bridge will have to be built over I-405 to fix the severance of the route.
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| KingCountyParks |
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| Aban RR Map |
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