The Shadow
The tallest all-wood railroad bridge in the world is the Goat Canyon Trestle across the Carrizo Gorge in Arizona.
Construction started in 1932 and was completed in 1933 to enable the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway to avoid building tunnels through Carrizo.
Nicknamed “The Impossible Railroad” in 1819 due to extreme heat and cold temperature changes along its route through the Mohave Desert combined with the rugged terrain that did not favor tunnel building and the lack of population along the route, San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway approved the building of the Goat Canyon Trestle without the use of nails.
Constructed of redwood planks to avoid metal fatigue that the engineers feared would be a safety risk should metal have been selected for construction, the railway on top of the 200’ high structure curves with the bridge constructed at a 14-degree angle to give the bridge strength to withstand high winds known to raise havoc in the area of Goat Canyon.
The curved angle of the bridge’s construction limits the top speed of a train to 10 mph to cross safely.
Under the direction of Carl Eichenlaub, the structure spans the gorge 750,’ a longer distance than any Major League Baseball player has ever hit a home run.
After World War II ended, the public began relying on motor vehicles for transportation, and the trend brought about hardship for the railroad company.
By 1951, the company ended passenger service on the run that only a few freight trains continued to make.
The ill-fated structure now belongs to the De Anza Springs Resort after Hurricane Kathleen damaged the bridge in 1979 along with railroad tracks.
Repairs in 1981 to fix the damage done by the hurricane were halted in 1983 after another tunnel collapsed, bringing about another decade of neglect.
Pacific Southwest Railway Museum began giving rides to the bridge after repairs were completed in 2003. However, shortly afterward, Tunnel #6 collapsed, ending the rides.
By comparison, the tallest bridge in Virginia stands 125’ above the Appomattox River at a 75’ lesser height, but it is much longer than the Goat Canyon Trestle, stretching 1,450’ from one end to the other.
Located in Prince Edward County near Farmville, the bridge was built in 1854, but now it has been turned into High Bridge State Park, a rail-trail park that features the longest pedestrian bridge in Virginia.
