Wabtec Test Track, NYC and US-20 Bridges over Sixmile Creek near Erie, PA

East Erie Commercial Railroad (Wabtec test track): (Satellite)

NYC: (Satellite)

NKP: (Satellite)

US-20: (Satellite)

US-20 Overview

The arch bridge carries the Wabtec/GE test track. On the other side of that bridge, we get a glimpse of the arch bridge of the CSX/NYC.

Street View, Apr 2024

Linda walked the Sixmile Creek from here to the South. So this is the creek view of the above scene.

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After she pointed out the little waterfall and some snakes, a test train appeared on the Wabtec test track. I was surprised that Wabtec still uses the GE logo. Also, we can see clear through the NYC arch bridge.

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The test train consisted of two blue and one BNSF locomotives.

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After seeing a snake swimming in the creek, we get a closeup of the NYC Bridge.

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Another view of the NYC arch because a NS/NKP train is on their bridge. It is gone in later views. The concrete girder bridge in the background is the US-20 Bridge.

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She turned around for this shot of the NYC Bridge. The road bridge behind the test track bridge is PA-955, which is on Iroquois Ave. As Linda explains, the NYC Bridge is a double arch and we can see the gap between the arches in these NYC views.

The NYC Bridge needs some TLC. I think the date is 1909.

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Linda called the NKP bridge the CSX bridge. I verified that she was wrong. When they split up Conrail, CSX got NYC. NS got NKP because of the N&W+NKP+Wabash merger.

arcgis

Linda also considers the US-20 bridge to be blah because she spent about 2 seconds on that bridge in her video.

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These fossils are underneath the US-20 bridge.

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1960/62 Harborcreek Quad @ 24,000

The East Erie Commercial label in the above map is still the name of the railroad that Wabtec uses to test locomotives. Linda had a few more scenes of the test train going over their bridge in her video.

A.J MIC, Apr 2023

"It takes about 25 days start to finish to build a brand new locomotive....We track test 100% of every locomotive we ship....They travel about 40 to 50 miles on the test track. We want high-speed runs and we want to do low speed run. Exercise that locomotive and all the conditions it may see out in its environment....Grand total, it varies on the model, but testing and painting takes anywhere from about 6 to 10 days." [2:14  video]

1950 Trail/Oregon, Pacific & Eastern "Stand By Me" Bridge over Mosby Creek and a Covered Bridge

(Archived Bridge Hutner; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Trail View, Oct 2015

Doug Chapman posted seven photos with the comment: "During my trip Oregon July 26 2025 I visited the Row River trail bridge near Cottage Grove Oregon. It is a former rail bridge and was used in the 1986 movie Stand By me. In a few photos that is me dressed as Gordie Lachance from the movie."

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I labeled the railroad as "rrIndustrial" because it looks like a logging railroad. Note the "Sawmill" where the two branches of the railroad meet.

1958/60 Roseburg Quad @ 250,000

I found three covered bridges while looking for the truss bridge. And then I noticed that Bridge Hunter lists a lot of covered bridges in this county. So, I'm just noting the one next to this truss bridge.

Trail View, Oct 2015

Street View, Aug 2024

They used wood for compression and steel for tension members.

Street View, Aug 2024

In fact, Lane County has 20 bridges, which is more than any other county west of the Mississippi River. [LaneCountyOR]

1901 Aban/New Castle Industrial Railroad/((B&O/BR&P)+P&LE) Bridge over Shenango River in New Castle, PA

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; B&T; Satellite)

BR&P = Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad

P&LE = Pittsburgh & Lake Erie

HistoricBridges
The 370' (113m) long bridge has a main span of 235' (71.6m).
"Situated on a Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad line, this railroad bridge is a breathtaking pin connected truss bridge, and is very tall. As a surviving pin-connected Whipple railroad truss bridge, it is a very rare and highly significant historic bridge. The two span bridge also has a smaller Pratt through truss span as well. The bridge features an ornate portal bracing design, something not often seen in railroad bridges."

Bridges & Tunnels by Sherman Cahal posted four photos with the comment:

Since these photos were taken several years ago, this bridge has since been abandoned.

This unique skewed Whipple and Pratt through truss spans carried the New Castle Industrial Railroad over the Shenango River in New Castle, Pennsylvania, and originated as part of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad before later incorporation into the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad system. Completed in 1901, the bridge played a role in the city's industrial development by linking the BR&P, B&O, and P&LE networks and serving nearby manufacturing plants. Although the line survived multiple railroad consolidations and continued operating under the New Castle Industrial Railroad, its status changed in 2024 when the diamond crossing east of the Mahoning River was removed. That action effectively cut the route, leaving the bridge isolated as a remnant of the city’s once-extensive industrial rail network.

More photographs and historical background: https://bridgestunnels.com/.../shenango-river-railroad.../

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2009 photo by Brian McKee via BridgeHunter

2009 photo by Brian McKee via BridgeHunter
[This together some other photos by Brian show that the flat cars are being stored on the bridge. That is, neither end has a locomotive.]

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Two of the sources say it was owned by Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh (BR&P). It must have used B&O tracks to connect to the rest of its system at Callery, PA.

1958 via Dennis DeBruler

1905 Artemus-Jellico/Southern/Cumberland Railroad Bridge over Cumberland River at Artemus, KY

(B&T; Satellite)

Street View, Sep 2024

Street View, Sep 2024

Street View, Sep 2024

Bridges & Tunnels posted three photos with the comment:

A railroad built with ambition, abandoned in struggle.

Chartered in 1902, the Cumberland Railroad once served Knox County’s coal mines but struggled financially, leading to its abandonment by 1953. Today, little remains except for a repurposed bridge, still in use after 120 years, standing as a quiet relic of Kentucky’s rail history.

📸 Read on in "Remnants of a Bygone Era in Kentucky: Discovering the Cumberland Railroad in Kentucky": https://bridgestunnels.com/.../remnants-of-a-bygone-era.../

📸 More photos + history of the railroad: https://abandonedonline.net/loc.../artemus-jellico-railroad/

Tim Shanahan shared

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Map via AbandonedOnline
In 1902, the Cumberland Coal Co. reorganized itself as the Cumberland Railroad Co. because "under Kentucky law, railroads could more easily obtain rights-of-way than coal companies." By 1905, the railroad was built. However, it soon had financial difficulties, and Southern bought the stock because the L&N showed little interest. (Thus the labels rrLaN and rrSou because Southern owned it, but L&N was its connection to the outside world. Southern had plans to extend the line, but they never came to fruition.) "A hard-surfaced road running parallel to the railroad line was completed in 1939." Consequently, passenger service was discontinued in 1941. In 1952, the last coal mine closed and the railroad was abandoned.
The bridge had a 210' (64m) truss and an 89' (17m) approach trestle.

Aban/CR&NW Gilahina Trestle over Gilahina River kinda near McCarthy, AK

(Neither Bridge Hunter nor Historic Bridges does Alaska; Satellite)

CR&NW = Copper River & Northwestern Railway. It operated from 1911 to 1938 to serve the Kennecott mines.

Street View, Aug 2009

Craig Kent posted
Copper River & Northwestern Railroad trestle west of McCarthy, AK August 2021.

Mark Cosson: Gilihina Bridge. Built in 8 days when the temperature was 40 degrees below zero!

Craig Kent: Mark Cosson Yep https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-gilahina-trestle

Kyle James Jarvis: Mark Cosson The first version burned in the summer of 1915. The current structure was built then.

Thomas Beiswenger: 880 feet [268m] long and there's a half million board feet in it.

Ken Heitzenrater shared

Craig Kent commented on his post
This is the west end of the trestle. The original post image is the east end.

Nathan Taylor, May 2021

Steve Schmorleitz uploaded four photos in Google Maps in May 2014.

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The temperatures got as low as -67 F, and the trestle is 90' (27m) high.
[I'm trying to remember at what temperature spit freezes before it hits the ground. I think -67 F might be colder than that.]

 

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The abandoned railroad is probably the dotted line on this map.

1951 McCarthy Quad @ 250,000