1911 GAP Trail/Western Maryland Keystone Viaduct over B&O and Flaugherty Creek

(Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

GAP = Great Allegheny Passage

GAP is the trail that goes between Pittsburgh and Washington DC.

Less than a mile west of here on this trail is the Bollman Bridge, which is an iron bridge that was fabricated in 1871. And a little further west of the Bollman Bridge is the Salisbury Viaduct, which is 1,900' long.

"The Keystone Viaduct was built in 1911 by the Western Maryland Railway as a key link in its expansion from Cumberland to Connellsville." (I need to research if this expansion was needed to make Western Maryland part of the Alphabet Route.) The viaduct is 910' long, and it is almost 100' above Flaugherty Creek. [GapTrail]

The truss span is 240' long. [HistoricBridges]

Dave Folan posted
From the Western Maryland forum. Keystone Viaduct, with a combination of a huge through truss, to jump over the B&O, and a long deck plate, to maintain grade. Couple big articulateds, eastbound.

GAPhsitory

Scott Gwynn posted
A pair of B&O helpers have just passed under Western Maryland's Keystone Viaduct as they shove a wartime freight on Sand Patch. A quintet of cabooses are on the rear of the train. Photo by my father.

 

Scott Gwynn posted
A B&O Mallet has eastbound coal in tow as it passes under the Western Maryland Keystone Viaduct on Sand Patch during the war. Photo by my father.
[The grade of B&O's western slope was not as bad as the eastern slope, but the coal trains were loaded when they were climbing the western slope.]

I wonder if this is the rear of the above coal train.

Scott Gwynn posted
A pair of B&O helpers shoving on a wartime freight have just passed under the Western Maryland's Keystone Viaduct on the climb up Sand Patch. Photo by my father.

GAPhsitory
PennDOT insisted that two piers be removed during rehabilitation so that they could straighten the Glade City Road. So three 80' spans were replaced by a 240' span. The rehabilitation work was done 2002-03. In 2009 the viaduct was raised 18" to allow double-stack trains to pass underneath. In addition for paying for the costs of raising the viaduct, CSX pad $25,000 to the GAP.

It is a bummer that no street view driver has gone on Glade City Road because that would have captured some nice views of the viaduct.

Wade Massie contributed to Google Maps, Jul 2006

Ben Sutton Flickr via BridgeHunter
Western Maryland Keystone Viaduct Westbound