Abandoned Railroad Bridge over the Merritt Parkway

Some say why?  - I say why not?

I have been mountain biking in the Pequonnock Valley for years and road biked the entire Housatonic Rail-Trail (Pequonnock Valley Greenway)  in 2013. The old railroad bridge over the Merritt always intrigued me so today, I donned my snowshoes and hiked in from Quarry Road.

 ITO Map 

Where I started my trek (at the north end of Quarry Road) was kinda ugly.

 The snow was pretty deep and it really required snowshoes. I saw this protruding on the hike in ...

 and this interesting ruin as well.

It is hard to tell from this photo shoot but most of the ROW was covered with plant growth (prickly invasive Japanese barberries, etc.) so hiking thru this in this summer would have required a machete!

 I could hear the roar of the traffic on the Merritt as I approached...

 But it felt nice to finally cross it...

 The old ROW continued on north but I turned around once across the bridge....

 And snapped a shot looking south before my trek back.

After returning to my car I went up to the Valley to Mountain Bike. The Trails were groomed well and I got in a short stint before the snow started to fall.  :-)

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Further Info

• Housatonic Rail-Trail (Pequonnock Valley Greenway) Trail Link > 
• GBRC - Pequonnock River Trail (future plans)
• My trek on the Housatonic Rail-Trail (Pequonnock Valley Greenway)

Railroad History

The railroad line was part of the original Housatonic Railroad line (New Haven Berkshire Division) that ran from Bridgeport up to Botsford, It was abandoned in 1940.

1893 Railroad Map of Connecticut