Sonoma County, California Bridges: NWP Railroad Bridge across the Petaluma River

August 2014 (38.11240, -122.50074 Degrees) Petaluma River Railroad Bridge

I traveled west from Sonoma Creek to the Northwest Pacific (NWP) Railroad Bridge at the mouth of the Petaluma River. This bridge includes long timber trestle approaches and a 246 ft long swing span. 

The NWP was started over 100 years ago by the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads in order to carry timber south from Humboldt County. Despite running out of money and being shut down under an emergency order by the Federal Railroad Administration, the railroad resumed freight service in 2011 and is even planning to provide commuter service. The Rolling Lift Bridge that we visited in Wingo also belongs to the NWP Railroad.

Today's swing bridge stays open to allow ships to travel between San Pablo Bay and the Petaluma River but it closes four or five times a day to carry freight trains. A bridge tender's house is on the swing bridge and also at the end of the trestle bridge. Note the strengthened truss panels over the support to carry the cantilevered spans.

Sonoma County, California Bridges: NWP Railroad Bridge across the Petaluma River by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.