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West River Railroad, Windham County

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Inventory Number: VT/45-13-24x
County: Windham County
Township: Brattleboro
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: West River Railroad
Crosses: West River
Truss type: Uncovered Combination Pratt Through
Spans: 2
Length:
Roadway Width:
Built: 1879
Builder:
When Lost: 18 Aug 1886
Cause: Collapsed
Latitude: N42 51.98
Longitude: W072 33.43
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: At the mouth of the West River. This was the westernmost of the three bridges.

Remains of the West River Railroad Bridge, Brattleboro, Windham County, VT Built 1879 Lost 1886
Richard E. Roy Collection

Comments:
The bridge from north to south consisted of a trestle span, an uncovered through Pratt channel span and a shorter uncovered Pratt span. The southern span crossed the southern entrance to the West River Covered Bridge (45-13-26). The channel and trestle spans collapsed on August 18, 1886 while a train was crossing, dropping an engine and 7 cars into the river 40 feet below. Two people were killed, J.J. Green, station agent and H.A. Smith, the engineer. The southernmost Pratt through span was 7-panels and it remained standing. The main channel span was somewhat longer than the West River Bridge, probably 200 feet long. In the first few days after the accident the railroad retrieved pieces of the bridge from the river looking to find some defective material to pronounce as the cause for the collapse. The railroad had considered the bridge one of the best on the line and were visibly bewildered. Although the timber showed early evidence of decay, the focus was on the iron components that had the harder job in the Pratt design. The designer of the bridge, Alfred P. Boller, was deposed shortly after and described the calculations he had performed in 1879 for the 212 foot bridge (main span or total?) before the bridge was built and his theory that the railroad had added both much more dead load to the bridge (additional crossties and flooring system) and that heavier engines were in use. These factors would have strained the iron in the bridge to the point of failure. The bridge was designed to carry 1000 pounds per lineal foot and was estimated to be carrying 2000 pounds per lineal foot when it failed.

Source:
St. Johnsbury Republican, August 26, 1886.

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