I’ve decided that what I like most about rail trails is the same thing I liked about them when the trains were running. Back when I was a boy everything was a mystery and new discoveries waited around every bend. I find that little has changed in that regard on these old paths through the forest. I’ve been walking and biking the rail trails in the area over the past few weeks and this year I decided to look for a little history as well as interesting plants. I found plenty of both.
If you’re on a rail trail and see a stream flowing under it, there’s a good chance that it is flowing through a culvert-possibly a very old culvert. The one in the photo is a box culvert, made up of two side walls, top or lintel stones, and a stone floor. In the mid-1800s railroad stone masons cut these stones from ledges or boulders found in the woods near the rail line. There were certain rules that they had to follow. One regarded the thickness of the lintel stones and by how many inches they had to overlap the side walls, and even how much soil would be packed on top of them. These lintel stones were at least a foot thick and supported the weight of locomotives twice a day for over a century.
Though I grew up hearing everyone call this type of span a trestle, according to Wikipedia this is a Warren-type through-truss bridge. This type of bridge was made of wood, wrought iron, cast iron, or steel. We have several that cross and re-cross the Ashuelot River but trees and shrubs along the river banks are making them harder to see each year. Last year I could see the river from this spot, but not now.
This appears to be an old switch box of the kind that would alert the engineer that the through track had been switched to a side spur. Whatever it was, it was powered by electricity. The rectangular base was bolted to a concrete pad and the warning indicators would have been at the top of the pole, but that part had been broken off.
One of the largest stands of forget me nots (Myosotis scorpioides) I’ve ever seen is beside a rail trail. You never know what plants you might find along these trails, and I’ve seen some amazing things.
Forget me nots are such pretty little things and here they grow happily, way out in the middle of nowhere.
This is another, bigger box culvert. According to a website I found called Historic Stone Highway Culverts in New Hampshire the difference between a bridge and a culvert is the length of the span. (Width of the opening) Anything less than 10 feet is a culvert, and more than that is a bridge. Most culverts are covered by earth fill but the one in the photo surprisingly had very little fill over it. The amount of fill over a culvert plays a huge role in how much weight it can carry.
This is an example of a new culvert, recently installed. Will it last for centuries like the box culverts have?
Rattlesnake weed (Hieracium venosum), one of the rarest plants that I’ve ever found, grows beside a rail trail. I was very happy to see that it is going to bloom this year. Its flowers look like those of yellow hawkweed and, though they aren’t very spectacular, flowers mean seeds and seeds mean more plants.
Sometimes these old rail trails still cross over roads.
Way up at the top of that embankment through a break in the trees is where I was when I took the previous photo. Many of these old granite tunnels have been taken down, but this one still stands. My question is, how did the railroad build it? Did they dig a hole through the hillside and then line it with granite block, or did they build the tunnel and then fill in with soil over the top of it? I’m guessing the latter, but can anyone imagine the amount of soil they had to move? It’s staggering to think of it.
The plants growing in the gaps in the face stones are pushing them away from the arch stones (voussoirs) and they really should be removed.
In my last post I wrote about finding a native early azalea (Rhododendron prinophyllum) out in the woods, and just as I was taking photos for this post I found another growing beside a rail trail.
The fragrance of this azalea is really magnificent and it was my nose as much as my eyes that led me to it.
What most impresses me about the railroad is how, even out in the woods, the stone masons displayed their extraordinary craftsmanship. They knew when they built this arched culvert that few if any people would ever see it, but they created a thing of beauty anyway. Each one of those stones was split, faced and fitted by hand, using little more than hammers and chisels. That they have stood and stood well since the mid-1800s is a testament to their mastery of the art of stone masonry. Having built with stone myself I am left in awe of their skill and knowledge. Stone arch culverts are rare in comparison to the box culvert, representing only ten percent of the total culverts in New Hampshire.
In part two of this post we’ll see abandoned mills, old railroad depots, rock slime, rusting boxcars and of course, more flowers.
Sometimes you don’t choose the path, it chooses you. ~Anonymous
Thanks for stopping in.
Do we not live in an amazing area your strolls look just like mine I LIKE that 🙂
Thanks! Yes, I agree, New Hampshire is pretty amazing!
🙂
We have a railway trail near here that I stumbled upon once. I didn’t have time to explore it then but you’ve just reminded me i must go back and have a look. The old bridges and culverts are testaments to the craftsmen who built them. Today we seem content to go for the quick, easy option with such things and it’s a shame.
One thing I’ve discovered is, you never know what you’ll find on a rail trail. You can see some amazing things and some beautiful flowers, not to mention the great bridges and stone work. I’m looking forward to seeing what you find on yours.
Great post and intresting to read, we have a old railway line that is now a path, it used to feed all the cotton and wool mils in our area, now after making it to a proper path it is used by many people to walk their dogs and get to the local schools with out having to use the road. I did like it a little better before when it was all over grown and you couldn’t see more than a few feet ! All the bridges are still there as the roads go over the top, will have to take a closer look at them.
Amanda x
Thank you Amanda. I’ve always thought that the people who live close to rail trails might have a different view of them than the rest of us. I’ve had to walk through several of what amount to people’s back yards while following them and it’s a strange feeling. Almost as if you were trespassing.
I hope you see some interesting bridges and culverts on yours.
Reblogged this on Dawn of Divine Rays.
Thank you Agnes.
You’re very welcome. Allen. Wising you a very blessed weekend. Namaste.
Thank you, and the same to you.
Interesting post as always. Don’t recall seeing the stone culverts before. I always enjoy waking railroad tracks. They are great to explore.
Thanks Grampy. The funny thing about the culverts is how you can’t see them from the trail. You have to look for streams passing under the rail bed.
I really love the old culverts, what craftsmanship, we really don’t have craftsman like that any more. Your native pink azaleas are beautiful, we have the same azaleas here all over the mountain. They are spectacular when you find a bunch of plants together.
I agree Michael, you just don’t see work like that done any longer. It’s rare to find even a single azalea here because people have dug them up to put in their gardens. It must be fantastic to see so many.
The amount of work required to build a railway in parts of the country with undulating terrain and small streams is so great that it always amazes me that any got built at all. I enoiyed your railway architecture a lot.
Thank you. I agree. It’s hard to imagine leveling or tunneling through hills and filling valleys.
Sure enjoyed “my hike” today. The stonework is amazing.
Thanks! I agree.
WOW, I loved it! The plants and the stonework. I can’t say that I’ve done much stonework, but it was enough to know how hard people worked back in the “good old days”! Pride in one’s work was an essential part of the job, not like today where we slap things together and hope they last a few years.
I wonder how much the push to lower standards is due to people wanting job security. If something has to be redone every few years, the designers and builders know that they will never run out of work. If something is built to last for centuries, they may think that they will be out of a job after a while.
We can’t forget the animals as well, I’m not sure, but I’ll bet that some of the rocks and soil were moved by draft horses or oxen, much as the loggers used animals to move logs.
Thanks Jerry. I agree, sometimes it seems hard to find people who take pride in their work these days, and “good enough” seems to be the norm. You could be right about job security because it also seems like things are now made to wear out or break down much sooner than they used to. And you can’t get many things fixed anymore. We’re just expected to throw them away and buy new.
I’d bet that all of the soil that the railroads moved was hauled by horses and oxen-they really didn’t have any other way. It’s amazing to think about it.
The engagements you have with followers is as impressive as your writings and pictures. What journeys!
Thank you, it’s fun!
Roger that.
The granite tunnel and the last shot are my favorite. What fun facts, I will never look at a culvert the same! Thanks.
Neither will I Martha, thanks!
thank you for the gift of all of those most beautiful culvert photos-something functional made into art-jini
You’re welcome Jini. That’s a great way to look at it.
Fascinating historical insights into the craftsmanship that went into building the support structures of the railroads. This is the kind of work that I usually associate with the grand cathedrals of Europe. The beauty of the work and the fact that it has lasted says a lot about those workers (and I doubt that the concrete culvert lasts anywhere near as long as the stone ones).
Thanks Mike. I think that’s a good comparison. Many of these culverts look like they’re built to last for a thousand years, minimum and the quality of the stonework rivals that found on many great buildings. To think that they did it all right there on the spot is remarkable.
I know what you mean about the new culverts. Somehow a concrete slab and a length of plastic pipe just isn’t the same.
Several years ago, I had a contract that involved me working on the railway for just over a year. The team I was with had been track-side all their working lives and were constantly correcting me when I didn’t know the difference between a culvert and a bridge and then a viaduct or indeed when we went under a wide bridge that they called a tunnel because it was over the prescribed length. I must have seemed a bit of a dunce to them, the jargon went right over my head.
By the way, in the UK old signal boxes like that contain asbestos (which is what my job was; surveying and assessing the risk then supervising its removal). I don’t know about the US of course but you may want to exercise a bit of caution Allan. Look but don’t disturb.
If I hadn’t read that web page about stone culverts I never would have known the difference either Jim. You and I aren’t paid to know, so why would we?
Thanks for the tip about the asbestos, I never would have given that a thought. I didn’t see any inside that switch box but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t there.
Your final picture is something else, what craftsmen they were. I wish I could go walking with you though I would make you very slow alas. I can almost smell that azalea, one of favourite plants because of the scent as well as the looks.
Thank you Susan. If I was looking for plants when we were walking you might be surprised how very slow I go. I was so happy to find another wild azalea, and I must have stood there sniffing and taking pictures for a good 10 minutes.
I could identify the location of several of the images, but not the last one. That is amazing work. I like stone arch bridges the way some people like covered bridges. I photographed many in NH. I will have to check out the link! I sincerely doubt the new culvert will last even half as long. We just don’t build things like we used to! Back then they built with pride, today they build with $ in mind. Can’t wait for part 2.
That last arched culvert is in the woods off Arch Street in Keene. I didn’t know how rare they were when I was taking pictures, but I loved the look of it.
I know what you mean about the new culverts. they don’t even look like they’d last 50 years.