Covered Bridges

     Railworks assets creator jpetersjr (http://www.i-m.mx/jpetersjr/BigJProductions/) has built for me two covered bridges that I have incorporated into my current route, the fictional Central Vermont Champlain Division.

     In addition to an covered railroad bridge (top photo), he has also created a covered railroad bridge (bottom photo). I have placed two covered railroad bridges on the shortline Western Vermont Railroad segment of my route. The reason for not placing any on the mainline Central Vermont portion is because although they were once used on mainline tracks, by 1960 (the route's time period) all mainline covered bridges had been replaced with stronger steel and wooden structures. However, they remained in use on branch lines and shortline railroads. Covered railroad bridges were very common in Vermont, even until recently. In fact, a real life Vermont shortline, the St. Johnsbury & Lamoille County Railroad, operated freight traffic over a number of these until the late 1990s. Although the line is now abandoned, one still stands at Wolcott, VT.

There were a staggering number of railroad covered bridges in my home state of New Hampshire as well. Many of them can still be visited today, albeit almost all of them are abandoned and home to rail-trails. However, if you visit Clark's Trading Post in Woodstock, NH, you can take a ride through the last active covered railroad bridge in the world.