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| Youndt Station Covered Bridge 38-05-07x Gone but not forgotten |
| The Youndt Station bridge carried Rabbit Lane across Dunnings Creek in Bedford township just south of Youndt, a cross roads village now also lost to history. The station was between the bridge & Youndt, and was part of the Dunnings Creek Branch of the Bedford & Bridgeport Railway Company, a 10.7 mile branch line that ran from Bedford to the iron ore mine in Holderbaum, now known as Oppenheimer. The bridge was built in 1875. It was 131 ft long with a clear span of 123 ft, had a clearance of 11 ft 6 in, and a roadway width of 12ft 10 in. It was a single span 14 panel Burr arch, typical of & unique to Bedford county bridges built between 1870 and 1902. It originally was fully enclosed with high vertical plank siding, but as with many Bedford county bridges, sections of the siding were removed to improve visibility as traffic speeds increased. The bridge was replaced by the present concrete bridge in 1961, when the newer larger school buses could no longer navigate the sharp curve before the RR tracks on the east end. Local residents were offered to buy the bridge for $1, but none could afford the liability. So as with the many other bridges replaced in the early 60s, the county threw a torch to it. But the old girl refused to fall till they wrapped a chain around her middle & pulled her down with a bulldozer. Very little is left at the site, the west approach road & abutment is completely gone, as is the stone from the east abutment. The east approach road is now part of a private lane. All that remains is the crumbling remnants of the traffic barrier the county placed on the approach ramp after they brought her down. This portrait represents the bridge in all it's original glory as the day it was first opened to wagon traffic. |
Mike & Jackie - 2009 - All Rights reserved
| Youndt Station Covered Bridge Henry C. Falk Photo, Thomas G. Kipphorn Collection, courtesy of Thomas Kipphorn & Covered Spans of Yesteryear |
| Location of Youndt Station covered bridge - 2009 |
