Woodsville NH railroad bridge

I was in Woodsville, NH yesterday, and went by the old B&M railroad bridge. Who owns this bridge, and why has it not been removed?

The bridge is owned by the Boston & Maine/Guilford/PanAm or some corporate entity under that umbrella. It has not been removed because, presumably,

1. PanAm believes it has better uses for its money,
2. the bridge, although it crosses the river, does not interfere with navigation,
3. PanAm probably has no obligation to remove the bridge unless it becomes a danger to the public.

PBM

In general, do rr's pay taxes on bridges?

Here's a guess: No. They build them, they maintain them. I am sure that they pay property taxes on the lands on each riverbank. In the case of the Woodsville - Wells River bridge, the situation is clouded by the fact that it was a combined rail and highway bridge, so I'm not sure of its status.

A little more background: some time in the middle 'nineties, the bridge was determined unsafe for rail operations. At the time, the B&M had already given up the Woodsville - Littleton segment (by lease, IIRC) and that was being served by the NHVT. The condemnation action effectively cut off NHVT access to the south via White River Junction, so in compensation Guilford gave them rail access via St. Johnsbury to reach the Connecticut River route. With no further need for the through route and little or no on-line business on the New Hampshire side, that route was abandoned and torn up in the late 'nineties.

PBM

And for a little while in the 2000's the bridge was used as a road bridge while the normal road bridge was being replaced.