Lampasas Bridge Fire

[PAL_Houston]

Lampasas, Texas 23 May 2013.  Bridge over the Colorado River was supposedly built by Santa Fe in 1910.

[up1950s]

I wonder if fire causes that same domino effect on most trestles ?

[Scottl]

Is it me or does that bridge look substandard?  There is essentially no cross bracing, so it is just a series of pilings.  Must be for very light loading.

[C855B]

Google Earth view on a better day: http://goo.gl/maps/JcxOY

The bridge is near San Saba, in Lampasas County.

Anybody know what the level of traffic was on this line? Judging from the zoomed-in view this line was not especially well-groomed, and has no signals. Not good news vis-a-vis replacement of the bridge.

[wazzou]

Is it me or does that bridge look substandard?  There is essentially no cross bracing, so it is just a series of pilings.  Must be for very light loading.

It (bracing) had already burned by the time the video started.  That's the reason the thing fell as it did.

[Scottl]

Thanks. 

[central.vermont]

While looking at the line look at what I came across a few miles west of the bridge fire!!
Anyone know anything about this?

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=San+Saba,+TX&hl=en&ll=31.212058,-98.800279&spn=0.00345,0.004823&sll=39.739318,-89.266507&sspn=13.623091,22.741699&oq=san+saba&hnear=San+Saba,+Texas&t=k&z=18

[central.vermont]

Boy this line sure has it's troubles!!
This was still even farther west. Might find more as I keep looking at this line on Google.

http://goo.gl/maps/d2om1

[central.vermont]

......................still going west.................

http://goo.gl/maps/6dKUq

[central.vermont]

..................finally arrived here at Brady Texas. It seems to be the end of the line and if so this fire just put an end to this line.

http://goo.gl/maps/EtahI

[central.vermont]

........................and going east it appears to end in a town called Lometa Texas.

http://goo.gl/maps/BTNam

[sharriso]

I have family in the Brady area.  It's called Gulf Colorado & San Saba Railroad.  There's an article about it in Wikipedia (including the bridge fire).

Very similar incident in 2002:

http://www.arizonarails.com/bad_day.html
   

 Shawn and Sally Harrison
    - Modeling 1850s B&O

[C855B]

... It seems to be the end of the line and if so this fire just put an end to this line.

Agreed. The traffic levels on the line were less than 100,000 gross tons per year, which is pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel. (100,000 gross tons = about 10 average-length mainline trains. It was less than that.)

According to the Wikipedia article, damage was determined to be $10 million. I'm sorry, but given that the line changed hands only six months ago, this cynic can't help but think the fire was the classic insurance arson scenario. There is no way there was ever going to be $10M in revenue on this streak of rust.