Shocks Mills Bridge

Shocks Mills Bridge carries tracks of the Norfolk Southern Railway (formerly the Atglen and Susquehanna Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad) over the Susquehanna River between Marietta, Pennsylvania and Wago Junction, Pennsylvania.

Shocks Mills Bridge
Coordinates40°03′42″N 76°38′14″W
CarriesNorfolk Southern Railway
CrossesSusquehanna River
LocaleWago Junction, Pennsylvania and Marietta, Pennsylvania
Characteristics
Designbrick arch; replacement center sections concrete and steel
Total length2209 feet
History
OpenedJanuary 1, 1905
Statistics
Tollnone
Location

Construction

During the early 20th century, the PRR constructed what it referred to as its "Low-Grade Lines", branches constructed with a minimal grade to divert freight traffic from its congested and steeper main lines. One of these new lines was the Atglen and Susquehanna Branch, which left the Main Line at Parkesburg to cut cross-county to the Susquehanna River, followed the east bank of the river to Marietta, crossed the river and ran along the west bank to Wago Junction, where it met the Northern Central Railway. The line from Marietta to Wago Junction was chartered as the York Haven and Rowenna Railroad, and much of the construction, including the crossing of the Susquehanna at Shocks Mills, was done by H.S. Kerbaugh, a major PRR contractor. The bridge was first opened on January 1, 1905, as a twenty-eight span brick arch.[1]

Damage from Hurricane Agnes and repair

The bridge was closed during the flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes in late June 1972. Penn Central's commuter train service between Lancaster and Harrisburg was affected by the damages to the bridge, and freight traffic to Harrisburg was required to be re-routed. In August of that year, the federal bankruptcy court, overseeing the reorganization of Penn Central, gave the railroad permission to make repairs to the span, a process that was expected to take "four or five months".[2]

References
  1. PRR Chronology 1905
  2. "PC Given Signal to Repair Span", The Daily News (Huntingdon, PA), August 29, 1972, p12

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