Moodna Viaduct
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The Moodna Viaduct is a steel railroad trestle spanning
Moodna Creek Moodna Creek () is a small tributary of the Hudson River that drains eastern Orange County, New York, Orange County, New York (state), New York. At 15.5 miles (25 km)Nolan, J. Kelly; April 2004;  ; Hudson Basin River Watch; retriev ...
and its valley at the north end of Schunemunk Mountain in
Cornwall, New York Cornwall is a Town (New York), town in Orange County, New York, United States, approximately north of New York City on the western shore of the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was at 12,884. Cornwall has become a Commuter t ...
, near the hamlet of Salisbury Mills.


Significance

The bridge was constructed between 1906 and 1909 by the
Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Northeastern United States, originally connecting Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey, with Lake Erie at Dunkirk, New York. The railroad expanded west to Chicago following its 1865 ...
as part of its Graham Line freight bypass, and was opened for service in January 1909. The trestle spans the valley for 3,200 feet (975 m) and is 193 feet (59 m) high at its highest point, making it the second-highest and -longest railroad trestle east of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
(after the 1889 Poughkeepsie Bridge of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, which is long and high). Apart from the valley below, the viaduct crosses two roads (Otterkill Rd. and Orrs Mills Rd.), the Moodna Creek, and the Erie Railroad's now-abandoned
Newburgh Branch The Erie Railroad Newburgh Branch is a mostly abandoned branch line that travels across the center of Orange County, New York. It survives as the CSX Vails Gate Spur between Newburgh and Vails Gate, but is abandoned between Vails Gate and the en ...
. The open design of the trestle was used to reduce
wind resistance In fluid dynamics, drag, sometimes referred to as fluid resistance, is a force acting opposite to the direction of motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding fluid. This can exist between two fluid layers, two solid surfaces, or b ...
and is a major reason why the trestle is still in service today.


Current use

The
viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...
carries
New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. It ...
/
Metro-North The Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company , also branded as MTA Metro-North Railroad and commonly called simply Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority of ...
Port Jervis commuter line trains and
Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...
freight trains. The Metro-North
Salisbury Mills–Cornwall station Salisbury Mills–Cornwall station is a commuter rail stop owned by Metro-North Railroad serving trains on the Port Jervis Line, located in the Beaver Dam Lake, New York, Beaver Dam Lake section of the town of Cornwall, New York. The station is ...
sits near the north end of the viaduct. In summer 2007,
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
replacement on the viaduct caused delays on the line due to slow orders placed on it, and required that service be halted during weekend days. Repairs were made to several of the concrete piers in October 2009, but traffic remained uninterrupted. It is also a tourist attraction for the small town of Salisbury Mills. Two major roads cross under it, the major one is Orange County Route 94. The viaduct creates a spectacular landscape when viewed from the corner of Orrs Mills Road and Jackson Avenue outside of town, frequently photographed during fall foliage season. The Moodna Viaduct appears as a prominent feature in the 2007 film ''
Michael Clayton ''Michael Clayton'' is a 2007 American legal thriller film by writer and director Tony Gilroy. It stars George Clooney as lawyer Michael Clayton, who discovers a coverup of criminal wrongdoing by one of his firm's clients. Tom Wilkinson, Tild ...
'' and in the 2020 film ''
The Half of It ''The Half of It'' is a 2020 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Alice Wu. It stars Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, and Alexxis Lemire, with Enrique Murciano, Wolfgang Novogratz, Catherine Curtin, Becky ...
''.


Gallery

Image:Moodna_viaduct_across.jpg, View point across the length of the Moodna Viaduct from one of the ends. Image:View from Moodna Viaduct.jpg, View from Moodna Viaduct looking east. Image:Jack Boucher, photographer, April 1971. GENERAL VIEW OF BRIDGE. - Erie Railway, Moodna Creek Viaduct HAER NY,36-SALMI.V,1-1 (cut).jpg, View of the Moodna Viaduct in 1971.


See also

* List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in New York (state) *
List of Erie Railroad structures documented by the Historic American Engineering Record This is a list of Erie Railroad structures documented by the Historic American Engineering Record. Structures References External links * * * {{HAER list, structure=railroad *HAER *List *List *List *X . . Erie Railroad Erie Rail ...


References


External links

* *. Video taken from a train crossing the viaduct. *. Video taken August 2007 showing the span. *{{YouTube, bCadDj_B7_0, Moodna Viaduct Filmed with a UAV . Drone footage of the Moodna Viaduct. Railroad bridges in New York (state) Tourist attractions in Orange County, New York Cornwall, New York Bridges completed in 1909 Erie Railroad bridges Historic American Engineering Record in New York (state) Metro-North Railroad Norfolk Southern Railway bridges Trestle bridges in the United States Iron bridges in the United States Bridges in Orange County, New York 1909 establishments in New York (state)