Nice catch & observation! That track was a (relatively) temporary siding that went down to the riverside to allow transload of bridge girders from railcar to barge to be floated down to the construction site for the old Baldwin Bridge that carried the Connecticut Turnpike (now I-95) across the Connecticut River. This photo is likely pre-1948, when the bridge opened (best guess is summer 1947?) Would love to know whether this siding was built ONLY for that purpose (and removed shortly after the bridge was completed) or was used for other transload activities... In any event, that would explain why no tie plates. In fact, there were typically only tie plates on mainline curves on this end of the line...
It appears that there are no tie plates on the track branching off.
ReplyDeleteNice catch & observation! That track was a (relatively) temporary siding that went down to the riverside to allow transload of bridge girders from railcar to barge to be floated down to the construction site for the old Baldwin Bridge that carried the Connecticut Turnpike (now I-95) across the Connecticut River. This photo is likely pre-1948, when the bridge opened (best guess is summer 1947?) Would love to know whether this siding was built ONLY for that purpose (and removed shortly after the bridge was completed) or was used for other transload activities... In any event, that would explain why no tie plates. In fact, there were typically only tie plates on mainline curves on this end of the line...
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