Swift Creek Rail Bridge

Railroad Bridge over Swift Creek
Railroad Bridge over Swift Creek
	Western Abutment of the Bright Hope Railroad Bridge over Swift Creek
Coordinates	37.3502°N 77.5113°W
Carries	Steam locomotives.
Crosses	Swift Creek (Virginia)
Locale	Chesterfield County, Virginia
Owner	Clover Hill Railroad, Brighthope Railway, Farmville and Powhatan Railroad,and then Tidewater and Western Railroad
Characteristics
Design	Truss bridge
Material	Granite
Total length	30 ft.[1]
Width	20 ft.
No. of spans	1
No. of lanes	1
Rail characteristics
Track gauge	Standard, 3 ft (914 mm) after 1881
History
Construction end	c.1841
Closed	1917
Statistics
Daily traffic	2 Passenger or passenger and freight trains each way six days a week. Up to six coal trains each way daily.
	The Clover Hill Railroad over Swift Creek is shown in southern Chesterfield, Virginia, on a map drawn by the Confederate Army for 1861.

The Swift Creek Rail Bridge was a granite and iron truss bridge over Swift Creek in Virginia. The Tidewater and Western Railroad included a bridge over Swift Creek that had been built by an earlier railroad company, the Clover Hill Railroad. The bridge was used during the whole time the four railroad companies operated rails over the bridge. The metal on the bridge was sold as part of foreclosure of the final company in 1917.

Geography and settings

The Swift Creek Rail Bridge in Chesterfield County crossed Swift Creek, one of the two major creeks in the County. The Bridge crossed the creek, east of Carver Heights Drive, Chester, past a landfill and behind a housing complex west of Bright Hope Road, which is near Beach Road. The creek is narrow, because this point is west, upstream, of the fall line and the creek is not tidal here.

Architecture

Eastern Abutment of the Bright Hope Railroad Bridge over Swift Creek

The remains of the bridge are granite abutments that are twenty feet wide indicating that it was a Truss Bridge. The bridge was one thirty foot span. The abutments were made of granite that was mined using star drills as shown by the drill holes. The Petersburg granite is readily available in the area.

History

The Swift Creek Rail Bridge was owned by four railroads.

Clover Hill Railroad

The bridge was constructed for the Clover Hill Railroad and Mining Company to get coal trains over Swift Creek in 1841. The tracks were standard gauge at that time. The State of Virginia declared this bridge sound in 1878.[2][3]

Brighthope Railway

The Brighthope Railway bought the Clover Hill in bankruptcy and became the new owners of the bridge in 1877. The new owners increased passenger travel. In, 1881, the Brighthope owners converted the gauge to narrow gauge.[4]

Farmville and Powhatan Railroad

The Farmville and Powhatan Railroad became the new owners in 1884. The Farmville and Powhatan allowed a telegraph to be added to the rails, which would have had a powered telegraph line across the bridge.

Tidewater and Western Railroad

The Tidewater and Western Railroad bought the bankrupt Farmville and Powhatan in 1905 and went bankrupt themselves in 1917. Creditors sold the rails and other assets to the World War One Effort in France. Only the granite abutments remain today. Another bridge takes Beach Road across Swift Creek. A residential road named Bright Hope is nearby.

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References

Virginia. Office of the Railroad Commissioner (1902). Annual Report of the Railroad Commissioner of the State of Virginia. R.F. Walker, Superintendent Pub. Print. pp. 302–314.
Virginia. Railroad Commissioner (1878). Annual Report of the Railroad Commissioner of the State of Virginia. R.F. Walker, superintendent public printing. pp. 70–.
Virginia. State Corporation Commission (1917). Annual Report of the State Corporation Commission of Virginia: Compilations from Returns of Railroads, Canals, Electric Railways and Other Corporate Companies. J.H. O'Bannon, Superintendent of Public Printing. pp. 973–.
George Woodman Hilton (1990). American Narrow Gauge Railroads. Stanford University Press. pp. 543–. ISBN 978-0-8047-1731-1.

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[Commissioner1902-1] Virginia. Office of the Railroad Commissioner (1902). Annual Report of the Railroad Commissioner of the State of Virginia. R.F. Walker, Superintendent Pub. Print. pp. 302–314.

[Commissioner1878-2] Virginia. Railroad Commissioner (1878). Annual Report of the Railroad Commissioner of the State of Virginia. R.F. Walker, superintendent public printing. pp. 70–.

[Commission1917-3] Virginia. State Corporation Commission (1917). Annual Report of the State Corporation Commission of Virginia: Compilations from Returns of Railroads, Canals, Electric Railways and Other Corporate Companies. J.H. O'Bannon, Superintendent of Public Printing. pp. 973–.

[Hilton1990-4] George Woodman Hilton (1990). American Narrow Gauge Railroads. Stanford University Press. pp. 543–. ISBN 978-0-8047-1731-1.