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The East Coulee road/rail bridge - an interesting study.

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  • Member since
    April 2012
  • 16 posts
The East Coulee road/rail bridge - an interesting study.
Posted by ChrisBIGDoer on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 1:27 PM

An interesting combination road rail bridge built to service coal mines in the Red Deer River Valley, in Alberta Canada.

Full report here....

http://www.bigdoer.com/811/exploring-history/east-coulee-roadrail-bridge/

Chris “BIGDoer”

Chris and Connie: Off the beaten path.

Hiking - Adventure - History - Exploration

http://www.bigdoer.com

  • Member since
    August 2008
  • From: Calgary AB. Canada
  • 2,298 posts
Posted by AgentKid on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 1:43 PM

Excellent photos.

From a Station Agent's kid at Irricana on the Langdon Sub. to East Coulee.

Bruce

So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.

"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere"  CP Rail Public Timetable

"O. S. Irricana"

. . . __ . ______

  • Member since
    May 2004
  • 4,115 posts
Posted by tatans on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 2:22 PM

Been across this bridge/trestle many times, Built in 1936, damaged by ice and intentional blast in 1948 and rebuilt, line was used by CNR for 6 months a year and CPR for the other six, hauling coal.

Bridge should be restored as a priority.

  • Member since
    October 2006
  • From: Allentown, PA
  • 9,810 posts
Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 8:26 PM

From the linked article:

"I have not been able to find exactly when the bridge was built but I was told anywhere from the 1930s to 1948. I could not find a date stamp in the concrete – bridge builders often include one – but none was found by this author. Regardless of the exact year within that time span, the use of wood construction seems odd. At this later date one would assume steel would be used. The design certainly makes it look much older than it is."

About 60 miles East-NorthEast from Calgary, at about these Lat./ Long. coordinates (per ACME Mapper 2.0): N 51 20' 0" W 112 29' 14" - the road across the river is a combination of Rts. 10 and 569, which split about 0.4 mile just to the east. 

Thanks for sharing !

- Paul North. 

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)

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