Another one gone

Like I had talked about back on July 2nd, shooting the run-of-the-mill stuff shouldn’t be considered boring, because one day you might wake up and it’ll be gone.  Well folks, it happened again.  Those of you who have been up to the CSX yard at Selkirk, NY are probably familiar with Ben’s Bridge, which carried Jericho Road over the center of the yard.  Ben’s Bridge has been a railfan favorite pretty much forever, and I know I’ve shot from the bridge a number of times – the shot to the left was taken from the middle of the bridge (incidentally the fuel/sand racks that surround the power are now gone also).  Well, those shots are no longer possible.

Yep, Ben’s Bridge is now officially closed.  Here’s the story from the Times Union on the bridge removal.  Yes, I said removal and not replacement.  According to the TU story, they did a study, and the most economical option was removal of the bridge.  And as of July 7th, as the story indicated, the bridge is closed.  See this picture over on NERAIL by Gary Schemerhorn for the now blocked off bridge.

Anyways, here’s a few pictures from Ben’s Bridge that I’ve taken over the years.  I think I’m going to go back through my slides and scan a few more in for old time’s sake…

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And a panoramic shot I took with a little Canon point & shoot back on March 1, 2003

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Just glad I had a few chances to shoot from the unique vantage point that will soon be gone forever…

Thanks for looking!
Tom