As far as I have ever been able to tell, the story of the bridge over the Normankill on the Albany Main was a piece of fiction. O knew D&H officials at the time, and I never heard them say the bridge had been condemned.
The problem was that the bridge was a pin-connected through-truss bridge, and CP Rail didn't have pin-connected through truss bridges. They claimed they are dangerous. If one of the pins fails, the whole bridge is in danger of collapse. But the bridge had beenm there for over 100 years and it hadn't collapsed!
I spoke with a railroad civil engineer who said that there are a number of pin-connected through-truss bridges around the country still successfully in service every day. They just need to be inspected regularly and the pins tested (ultrasonically?).
I located a shortline operator who successfully rebuilt and operated the Nashville & Eastern Railroad in Nashville, Tennessee (but he lived in Vermont) and he was interested in operating the entire Albany Main from Kenwood to Delanson. A commuter line eventually could have operated on that line (which he made happen in Nashville). I took him to a meeting of the Albany County Legislature to make a presentation, and they wouldn't let him speak (it was obvious a backroom deal had already been made). It was Albany's loss. Unfortunately, that will never be a railroad again. The NIMBY's will never allow it. By the way, he and his partners recently sold the Nashville & Eastern to R.J. Corman.