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  • Abandoned Railroad Bridge At West Wildwood

  • Discussion relating to the PRSL
Discussion relating to the PRSL

Moderator: JJMDiMunno

 #724564  by George W. Rosenzweig
 
The Cape May County Herald ran a very brief article in today's issue regarding the abandoned railroad bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway at West Wildwood. Both West Wildwood and Middle Township want it removed, and have appealed to the Coast Guard for help in classifying it as a "known hazard" to navigation.



Much of the bridge is gone, and what remains is in very poor (as in, falling down) condition. On the West Wildwood side, there are homes built on what appears to have been the former right of way.
 #724849  by hutton_switch
 
What needs to be done is to determine whose responsibility (and expense) it would be in tearing the remainder of the bridge down. Since it is former PRSL property, and since PRSL no longer exists, would it be NS or NJT? If neither of these, would someone care to educate who it might be, since there also is a lot of abandoned trackage up at the Ocean City area as well, should a similar issue arise up there?
 #724889  by JJMDiMunno
 
hutton_switch wrote:What needs to be done is to determine whose responsibility (and expense) it would be in tearing the remainder of the bridge down. Since it is former PRSL property, and since PRSL no longer exists, would it be NS or NJT? If neither of these, would someone care to educate who it might be, since there also is a lot of abandoned trackage up at the Ocean City area as well, should a similar issue arise up there?
The Wildwood Branch ROW was purchased by a private owner after it was abandoned...if I'm not mistaken, the purchase included the bridge as well. Can anyone confirm that?

If so, he who owns the ROW also owns the bridge.

Mike DiMunno
 #726226  by glennk419
 
I would guess that they're referring to Grassy Sound bridge:

http://wikimapia.org/9964797/Grassy-Sou ... ble-Bridge

Not only are the remains of the bridge still there, but also the rusted hulk of the crane that was being employed to remove it.

Photos of the bridge in service can be seen here, courtesy of the Wildwood Historical Society:

http://forums.railfan.net/forums.cgi?bo ... ;start=180

The story itself can be found here on page 26:

http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/file ... 09_web.pdf
 #791190  by Lattice180
 
The right of way was excluded from the conveyance into Conrail effective April 1, 1976. Title, such as it was and including the bridges, was conveyed to a gentleman by the name of John R. Altoonian at some point prior to my departure from employment with Penn Central Corporation on December 31, 1985. I handled the settlement for the transaction but I cannot recall the exact date. In fact, Mr. Altoonian built a house on the West Wildwood side of the waterway.


It was sold for a very nominal fee because it included responsibility for the bridges, etc. and Mr. Altoonian owned equipment and it was his idea that he could earn some money by dismantling the bridge in question for salvage. I would guess the abandoned crane referred to was a piece of equipment that was used by Mr. Altoonian.

I remember following up with inspections of the area when I was vacationing in Cape May and I know work had started to dismantle this bridge but I did not follow up to a conclusion.