On the south side of the West Seattle Bridges (upper & lower) and north of T-105 Park is the BNSF Railroad Bridge. In my walk around Riverside this bridge drew me over to it since it stands straight up and appears to have been around more than a few years.

To get to the bridge I walked down the tracks hoping that no one would call me out.  That did not happen so I got some great photos of it and the river itself.  This was a bit nerve-wracking since walking on the rails is a dangerous thing.  I keep looking behind me for a train and had an exit plan in my head. Also, walking on rails is not easy with lots of trip hazards to watch for. As soon as I got close to the rail bridge I climbed down into the parking lot to get off the tracks.

I have done some research on this bridge and found that it was originally built in 1911 by Northern Pacific Railroad.  It was then reconstructed in 1928 into its current configuration and is now owned by Burlington Northern.  Here is an excerpt from Bridgehunter.com with more details.

In 1911 the Northern Pacific railroad constructed a Strauss heel trunnion of the Strauss bascule bridge company with the 2 dc motors of 25 horsepower the machinery was installed on the end of the bascule span, the struts attached to the counterweight bridge tower.

The Strauss heel trunnion bascule which formerly use by the Northern Pacific railroad was repaired in 1928 that the operating machinery was removed, built in the machinery inside the counterweight bridge tower, the strut was transferred from the bridge tower to the bascule truss to support the counterweight and notice the framework was change in place. The span is in the better suited operation.

Written by Douglas Butler at Duwamish Railroad bridge – Bridgehunter.com

This following series of photos start at the top and move down towards the tenders building.

To see more of my Duwamish Adventure I have a directory post that links all of the pieces together.  You can find that post here – My Duwamish Adventure Directory