Alameda County, California Bridges: Niles Canyon Railroad Bridge across Alameda Creek

June 2014 (37.59498 Degrees, -121.90267 Degrees) UP Niles Canyon RR Bridge

Freight and passenger trains also use the Niles Canyon Railway bridges. We are at the eastern end of Niles Canyon and the railroad no longer crosses State Route 84. However, the tracks continually cross over hills, across ravines, and over Alameda Creek through tunnels and bridges. 

The UP Niles Canyon Railway Bridge is a 455 ft long crossing with plate girder approach spans and two Warren through truss main spans across Alameda Creek.

Alameda County, California Bridges: Niles Canyon Railroad Bridge across Alameda Creek by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Alameda County, California Bridges: Farwell Underpass across SR-84 and Alameda Creek

June 2014 (37.59763 Degrees, -121.94714 Degrees) Farwell Bridge

The Farwell Underpass (33 0035) is an old railroad bridge that was built as part of the First Transcontinental Railroad. However, parts of it have been replaced over time. For instance, the steel plate girder bridge across SR 84 must have been built later, since the 'Mission Trail' may have been the only road through the canyon when the railroad was built. Similarly, the big pin connected Pratt trusses replaced older Howe trusses in 1896. The only part of the original bridge that is still standing may be the big masonry piers that continue to support the superstructure. That may have been enough to make the bridge eligible to be registered as a historic place.

Like the previously studied Rosewarnes Underpass, considerable effort was made to skew the bridge rather than build the spans a little longer. Since the bridge has carried heavy trains for over 100 years, I guess it was worth it. 

We were fortunate that an old locomotive (perhaps built for for the Transcontinental Railroad) came by while we were photographing the bridge. Many tourists were on the embankment waiting with their cameras.

The Farwell Underpass is a 448 foot long railroad bridge built in 1865 by the Western Pacific Railroad (WPRR) for the Transcontinental Railroad between Sacramento and San Francisco. WPRR was taken over by the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) in 1867. All the railroads eventually merged into the Southern Pacific Railroad. The piers were designed and built by the WPRR. The trusses were rebuilt by Edgemoor Bridge Works in 1896. The approaches were rebuilt by the American Bridge Company in 1905 and rebuilt again by Virginia Bridge and Iron in 1932. 

Alameda County, California Bridges: Farwell Underpass across SR-84 and Alameda Creek by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Alameda County, California Bridges: Rosewarnes Underpass across State Route 84

June 2014 (37.59001, -121.95721 Degrees) Dresser Railroad Bridge

Rosewarnes Underpass and the Dresser Railroad Bridge (33 0034) are composed of plate girder end spans and through truss main spans over SR 84 and Alameda Creek. This bridge was built in 1906 and is 377 ft long and 15 ft wide. An unusual aspect of the bridge is the 45 degree skew that required the truss panels to be cut to accommodate the oblique angle. This bridge is heavily used by tourist trains, freight trains, and passenger trains.

Alameda County, California Bridges: Rosewarnes Underpass across State Route 84 by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Santa Clara County, California Bridges: Caltrain Bridge across San Francisquito Creek

May 2014 (37.44725 Degrees, -122.17039 Degrees) Caltrain Bridge

The last structure I photographed in Santa Clara County was an old railroad bridge next to Stanford University (there are other Santa Clara County bridges to the south that we'll get at some later time).

The Caltrain Bridge across San Francisquito Creek is a single span, five panel truss bridge with half-hipped members to strengthen what would otherwise be a simple Pratt truss. If I had to guess, I would call this a Baltimore truss with the half-hipped members to prevent buckling of the heavily-loaded compression members. This bridge was built in 1902, it's 104 ft long, 30 ft wide, and carries two sets of tracks. Note the big gusset plates that hold all of the truss members together (in the photo below).

Santa Clara County, California Bridges: Caltrain Bridge across San Francisquito Creek by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

American River Bridges: Western Pacific Railroad Bridge

Although it's hard to tell from this photo, we are approaching downtown Sacramento on our trip down the American River. I took many of these photos from my kayak, which was difficult as the boat tended to rotate whenever I put down my paddle.

The Western Pacific Railroad Bridge is a three span, steel through truss structure supported on pier walls and seat-type abutments. Although the bridge crosses the river at a high skew, the piers were built perpendicular to the bridge (rather than parallel to the river) and so the designer didn't have to adjust the ends of the truss spans to match the skew. On the north end of the bridge is a short, timber trestle section that allows bicyclists to go under the two sets of railway tracks carried on the bridge. The pier foundations are clearly visible, even at high tide above the river's surface. When the bridge was built (at the beginning of the 20th century) the riverbed was much higher then it is now and the resulting lower river leaves the pier foundations exposed.

The Western Pacific Railroad was formed in 1903 to build a standard gauge track connection to the Pacific. The company was acquired by the Union Pacific Corporation in 1983.

American River Bridges: Western Pacific Railroad Bridge by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.