Pennsylvania Railroad, Connecting Railway Bridge is a stone

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its structural load, loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either si ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, that carries

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

rail lines and

SEPTA SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

and NJT commuter rail lines over the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river in eastern Pennsylvania. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map(). accessed April 1, 2011. from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Pottsville ...

. It is located in

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, w ...

, just upstream from the Girard Avenue Bridge. It is also known as ''Pennsylvania Railroad, New York Division, Bridge No. 69''. Other names include ''Connecting Railway Bridge'', ''Connection Bridge'', ''New York Connecting Bridge'', ''New York Railroad Bridge'', and ''Junction Railroad Bridge''.

Initial bridge

The bridge was built in 1866 and 1867 by the

Connecting Railway The Connecting Railway was a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad, incorporated to build a connection between the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad and the PRR in the city of Philadelphia. Construction and assembly Connecting Railway The PRR ...

, a company affiliated with the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

and formally purchased by the PRR in 1871. Its purpose was to connect the PRR's southern and northern lines, and to be part of an eventual direct PRR line from

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Before the bridge's construction, PRR trains took a circuitous route between PRR's West Philadelphia and North Philadelphia Stations. The bridge was probably designed by John A. Wilson, chief engineer of the Connecting Railway Company, who surveyed the route in 1863. Following Wilson's 1864 resignation, PRR First Vice-President

George Brooke Roberts George Brooke Roberts (January 15, 1833 – January 30, 1897) was a civil engineer and the fifth president of the Pennsylvania Railroad (1880–96). Early life and education Roberts was born at his family's farm in the Pencoyd (Bala Cynwyd, P ...

, an engineer, took over the project and saw it through to completion. (He later became president of the PRR.) Thomas Seabrook was the masonry contractor. The bridge opened to traffic on 2 June 1867. The bridge was narrow, with only 2 tracks and an iron truss at mid-river. This was a cast- and wrought-iron, arch-reinforced, double-intersection

Whipple truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

. In 1873, PRR slightly reduced the truss's span by widening the stone piers at each end. Probably at the same time, PRR removed the truss's reinforcing arch. In 1897, PRR replaced the Whipple truss with a

Pratt truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

of the same length.

Expanded bridge

Between 1912 and 1915, PRR more than doubled the width of the bridge to 5 tracks, and replaced the mid-river iron truss with two massive stone arches. Alexander C. Shand was the designer of what was essentially a new bridge, built to look like the original. Eyre, Shoemaker, Inc. was the masonry contractor. Reiter, Curtis & Hill built the reinforced concrete bridges over Lansdowne Drive and West

Girard Avenue Girard Avenue is a major commercial and residential street in Philadelphia. For most of its length it runs east–west, but at Frankford Avenue it makes a 135-degree turn north. Parts of the road are signed as U.S. Route 13 and U.S. Route 30. ...

, and the viaduct curving around the

Philadelphia Zoo The Philadelphia Zoo is a zoo located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River. It was the first true zoo in the United States; it was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859 ...

In art

The Connecting Railway Bridge, with its line of stone arches, was a frequent subject for painters. It appears in works by

Carl Philipp Weber Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...

,Beth Kephart, ''Flow: The Life and Times of Philadelphia's Schuylkill River'' (2007), p. 101.

Edmund Darch Lewis Edmund Darch Lewis (October 17, 1835 – August 12, 1910) was an American landscape painter known for his prolific style and marine oils and watercolors. Lewis was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in a well-to-do family. He started training at ...

Thomas Moran Thomas Moran (February 12, 1837 – August 25, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family, wife Mary Nimmo Moran and daughter Ruth, took ...

, and, most famously, ''

Max Schmitt in a Single Scull ''Max Schmitt in a Single Scull'' (also known as ''The Champion Single Sculls'' or ''The Champion, Single Sculls'') is an 1871 oil-on-canvas painting by the American artist Thomas Eakins, List of works by Thomas Eakins, Goodrich catalogue #44. It ...

'' (1871) by

Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American Realism (visual arts), realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artist ...

. File:Max Schmitt in a Single Scull.jpg, ''

'' (1871) by

. File:Edmund Darch Lewis A View of Philadelphia from Belmont Plateau 1873.jpg, ''A View of Philadelphia from Belmont Plateau'' (1873) by

. File:US-PA(1891) p718 PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD BRIDGES.jpg, 1891 engraving by

Moses King Moses King (April 13, 1853 – June 12, 1909) was an editor and publisher who produced guidebooks to travel destinations in the United States, including Massachusetts and New York. Biography King was born in Shoreditch, London, UK, to David Woo ...

Other images

File:Schuylkill river.jpeg, 1872 Schuylkill River map. File:N. Y. Connecting Bridge, Philada, by Purviance, W. T. (William T.).jpg, Connecting Railway Bridge (circa 1867-73) with original reinforced-arch truss. File:Girard Avenue bridge, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views 4.jpg, Connecting Railway Bridge (circa 1867-73) from the south. File:Falls Bridge, Fairmount Park, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg,

East River Drive Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, commonly known as the FDR Drive, is a controlled-access parkway on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It starts near South and Broad Streets, just north of the Battery Park Underpas ...

(circa 1873) approaching the Connecting Railway Bridge. File:R. R. bridge & tunnel, Fairmount Park, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg,

going under the Connecting Railway Bridge. File:View in Fairmount Park. New York R.R. bridge, by Hemple, A. H. (Alfred H.).jpg, Connecting Railway Bridge (after 1873) with reinforced-arch removed from truss. File:PumpingStation.jpg, Spring Garden Pumping Station (after 1873) with the Connecting Railway Bridge in the background. File:Detroit Photographic Company (0757).jpg, Colorized photograph of the East River Drive (circa 1900). File:HABS 206147.jpg, Aerial view of the

(2003). The Pennsylvania Railroad, Connecting Railway Bridge is at bottom.

References

External links

* * by Jack Boucher, 1995. {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Pennsylvania Railroad, Connecting Railway Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

Columbia Railroad Bridge Columbia Railroad Bridge, also known as Columbia Bridge, is a 1920 concrete arch bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that carries CSX Trenton Subdivision rail lines over the Schuylkill River. Located in Fairmount Park, upstream of the Pennsyl ...

, upstream signs = , downstream = Girard Avenue Bridge , downstream signs = US 13

{{ric, SEPTA Metro, G, size=20px Bridges in Philadelphia Bridges completed in 1867 Bridges completed in 1915 Railroad bridges in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Railroad bridges Bridges over the Schuylkill River Historic American Engineering Record in Philadelphia Historic American Buildings Survey in Philadelphia 1867 establishments in Pennsylvania Viaducts in the United States Stone arch bridges in the United States Pratt truss bridges in the United States NJ Transit bridges SEPTA Amtrak bridges Northeast Corridor