WORKING ON THE RAILROAD

 ADDENDUM

By Allan King Sloan

March, 2005

TWO KING BUILT RAILROAD TRESTLES STILL IN OPERATION

Since the article entitled “Working on the Railroad – The Role of the King Bridge Company” was written in February of 2005, we have evidence of two additional railroad trestles built by the company that should be added to the list of structures still in operation. These are the Manhasset Viaduct of the Long Island Railroad in Nassau County, New York, and the Cuyahoga Valley “Short Line” Viaduct crossing Canal Road in Cleveland, Ohio, originally built in 1908 for the Nickel Plate Railroad. The King Bridge Company name appears in old documents related to these structures and recent photographs and interviews attest to the fact that both are still in use, even at ages approaching 100 years and with constant maintenance, repair, and replacement of many if not most of the original structural pieces.

  These trestles are products of the last two decades of the company’s operation and have proven to be more durable and useful than the larger highway bridges for which the company was known that became obsolete much more quickly and have all but disappeared.

 The Manhasset Viaduct of the Long Island Railroad

The quote and picture below are from an article entitled “Building the Long Island Railroad” appearing on the web site of the Manhasset Chamber of Commerce.

“The extension of the railroad from Great Neck to Manhasset and Port Washington in 1897 meant that a trestle bridge had to be constructed over the marsh at the end of Manhasset Bay. Building this bridge was the subject of considerable thought in the early 1890's; engineers were fearful of quicksand and marshland in the Valley. Finally in 1897, a contract was given to the Carnegie Steel Company and a subsidiary, the King Iron Company, undertook the job of constructing the bridge.”[1]

We assume that the King Iron Company referred to in the quote is actually the King Bridge Company that was most likely operating as a subcontractor to Carnegie Steel, with whom they had collaborated on other bridge building projects in the greater New York region.  We are trying to obtain up-to-date photos of the viaduct, which we understand carries up to twenty commuter trains a day between Penn Station and Port Washington.

The Cuyahoga Valley “Short Line” Viaduct

                                                                                                                                                          Photo by A.K. Sloan, October 2002

The picture above of the “Short Line Viaduct” was taken in 2002 and shows that it is still carrying trains across the the lower reaches of the Cuyahoga Valley south of Cleveland. It was constructed in the period of 1904 to 1908 to replace an earlier structure which had become out of date. The bridge is over 3000 feet long and consists of a series of trestles, beam girders, and other elements Its building was described in an article by George B. Tinker B.C.E. entitled “The Cuyahoga Valley Viaduct of the Nickel Plate Railroad.”[2] The picture and quote below are from this article.

“The entire superstructure was manufactured by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, of which Mr. Harry Fuller is Chief Engineer, and to his skill and attention to details is due, in large part, the satisfactory character of the structure. The erection was handled by the Pittsburg Construction Company. To their careful management is due the freedom from interference with traffic, the successful conduct of the work, and the excellent character of the workmanship. Mr. A. J. Himes was Bridge Engineer of the Railroad during the planning and design of the work. The substructure work was done by the Company forces, under Mr. E. E. Hart, Chief Engineer. The writer’s connection with the work began with the erection of the first portion, and a large part of his attention thereafter was occupied by the inspection of the material and workmanship, and the oversight of the erection.”

                                                                                                                Photo by A.K. Sloan October, 2002

A section of the Short Line Viaduct from Below

                                                                                                                   Photo by A.K. Sloan October, 2002

The view of the Viaduct from Canal Road

We do not know how much of the original structure is represented by what is in place today.  Some of the elements have been removed and replaced, but pieces of the original King bridge still provide a dramatic vista and monument to early 20^th century bridge engineering and construction.