1st Crossing/B131.7
1st Crossing
The right-of-way at the west end of the bridge curves away from Doe Gully to the bridge. After crossing the bridge, the right-of-way enters Maryland. Currently the trees have grown very large and hide the bridge on the West Virginia side.
A side shot of the bridge from the West Virginia side. Maybe one day this section will also be a railtrail and this photo location will no longer be obstructed by the trees. (Oct. 2002)
This WM eastbound freight is crossing bridge No. 131.7 into Maryland from Doe Gully, West Virginia. The same photo was later used in the Western Maryland's 1957 Annual Report. (report photo courtesy of Bob Leilich)
Click here for another photo of the abandoned WM trestle of Rick Mc Mullians C&O Canal site.
Arthur Bloch photographed the WM tracks looking west across the 1st crossing bridge from the Maryland shore of the Potomac River into West Virginia in May 1970. Western Maryland's "Doe Gully Storage Track" is just around the bend passed the B132 milepost. I photogrpahed the same bridge from about the same angle as before in June 2001.
Bob Kaplan caught Southern 4501 on an eastbound excursion train crossing the bridge heading east towards Little Orleans. This was one of the many excursions over the Western Maryland. Others steam excursions were pulled by Nickel Plate 765. The secong photo is looking east from about the same spot at the locomotive in the photogrpah is. Today all that remains are the crossties on the bridge, trees were the tracks ran, and barricades keeping people off the bridge.
A Western Maryland train heads eastbound over the the bridge crossing the river and the canal. This photo was taken from the canal towpath by Arthur bloch in May 1970. I photographed the bridge from the towpath 24 years later in May 1994. Hopefully one day hikers can hike the canal and return on a railtrail crossing this bridge.
These two photos were taken from the canal towpath in May 1986. The bridge still has debris up in the girders from a flood that took place on November 4th and 5th, 1985. The towpath was severly damaged during this flood but the abandoned WM was high above the flood waters in most places. I do know the WM bridge at Town Creek lost most of the crossties and some handrails during this flood. (both photos by J. W. France)
Two photos taken again just after the flood of 1985. These photos were captured by Arthur Bloch during a hike on the C&O Canal.
Looking west towards the 1st crossing. Here the road from Little Orleans stops and the right-of-way enters a small cut just before the bridge. This is as far as you can drive a car west from Little Orleans.
Looking east from the 1st crossing of the Potomac River. The right-of-way east of here to Little Orleans can be driven by car.
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