I really hope they have it repiared by spring.
i highly doubt that it will get repaired by spring...
my estimation-----end of june/beginning of july at earliest....
Very hard to see on Google Earth, but here is a Street View shot of 340 that made me think there was room to walk between the bridge rail and Jersey Barrier.Originally Posted by JNI64
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Yes that's the 340 bridge heading east where there is a walk way for people, which is heading west bound so that means after you cross the 340 bridge you have to cross a very busy 340 to sandy hook rd. Which once across the bridge is just up the hill. At that point if you were to keep going on 340 about 1/2 mile the AT crosses under 340.
And that is the second bridge on 340 out of Hf . The first one everyone walks across coming northbound you come up the steps and across the bridge to hf. Now you'd have to continue east on 340 to this second bridge about 1/2 mile, very little walk room , very busy road. And miss Hf.
Rickb, can you be so kind as to Google earth the sandy hook rd bridge and post it? I'm not lazy just not sure.
I may not be looking at the right place. If I was doing Google Earth correctly, the Street View I posted was taken in the area marked with the red circle looking north. And the derailment was in the area marked with the green circle.
I have ZERO local knowledge as to the alternatives, and defer to your and other locals’ judgement with regard to the practicality and safety of road walks in the area.
My interest mostly stems from the fact that the White blazed Trail did not pass through Harpers Ferry at all when I hiked (I still regret not taking a blue blaze to the ATC HQ) so I figured there was a possible alternative to cross the river already in place (ie the route I took), for those who preferred not to take a “required” shuttle.
If the road is not safe, it should be avoided — hopefully the ATC with get out front on that. But if it is safe, that should be made known too, right?
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What year was it you hiked? I reckon the trail headed north used to drop down to 340 and across the bridge you pictured and straight over to south mountain to continue north through Maryland?
I hiked in 1983. At the time the current (now out of service) railroad bridge into Harpers Ferry was not open to foot traffic.
I now understand what you are saying about 340 — looks to be a very dangerous road, and especially so if you were to start walking it (SOBO) where the AT crosses it now, well away from the bridge. That would be crazy
While it might be possible that there are old/legacy paths that get you across the river the way I crossed it, that may not be the case at all.
A hiker who wants to avoid a shuttle or hitch so as to walk all the way from ME to GA could get himself into a sticky situation by just looking at a map without understanding exactly what you pointed out.
I expect the ATC will layout some alternatives soon, since there will always be some people who will insist on waking an unbroken line from ME to GA.
Here are a couple of maps I scanned published in 1973 by PATC. They show the trail alignment bypassing Harpers Ferry and following 340 across the Sandy Hook bridge.harpersferry.pdf
More walking, less talking.
And though alot less traffic sandy hook rd is even more dangerous. There's the rd itself then there's the crazy rednecks that drive it.
I would imagine most AT hikers will drop into HF though, visit the ATC, resupply, stay in a hostel, whatever. I could see the ATC arranging a regular shuttle, hikers pay a nominal fee, $5-10, whatever the actual cost is. We'll see how it all shakes out, but I sure don't see them having the old bridge ready for the early hiking season.
Maybe the Harpers Ferry whitewater rafting businesses - River Riders or River and Trail Outfitters could be induced to give raft rides across the Potomac.
"Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen." Louis L’Amour
Fantastic, terrific, excellent, best, greatest idea.
Great photo.
Is the derailment near where people had placed all the padlocks on the chain link fence ?
I suppose the bridge for the Amtrak lines is closed to pedestrian traffic.
From Google maps it looks as if the C & O Towpath goes northwest (upstream). But the bridge crossing near Shepherdstown is 12 miles north of Harpers Ferry .
"indefinitely" does not = "permanently"
Be Prepared
Yeah we've established and concurred and moved on since then.
Not sure if this was posted. A "train" guy posted a youtube video of the damage. shows the cars, and bridge from the HF side. The bridge footage starts at about 5:22. Also has a lot of other info which is interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUh6...Pf_QIt0E0uCYHc
Wow, really great video. He shows and explains quite a bit. Looks like the first 100' of the walk ways damaged/ destroyed. So now I'm thinking speeds a factor? Thanks for posting skeeterpee..
Agree, great video by Railfan Rowan. Reports by the mainstream media were pathetic in comparison. Of course they have time constraints that YouTubers do not. You'll note that railfans have their own slang just like LD hikers do. I'll bet most of us never heard the term "grainers" before!
(Disclaimer: I've been a railfan since 1976, and a LD hiker since 1993. No doubt railfans can be just as precise [and sometimes long-winded] talking about trains as LD hikers can when talking about trails and backpacking. But it's all good...)
Reports by the mainstream media were pathetic in comparison. Of course they have time constraints that YouTubers do not.
as someone who works in tv news-----this would be on the very low list of things to cover.....
the closest tv station would be hagerstown, i believe, and that's about 45 minutes away....
nobody really hurt...........damage is contained...
not worth sending a crew down to get video or anything like that...
we would just rely on what information the authorities would provide..............which is probably not much....
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