so, this bridge was just to the south of the current Sakonnet river bridge? or roughly where the new bridge is being constructed? But I am assuming in started on the shoreline, since it was so low.. am I correct? I am new to the area, only a little over 3 years now.

oh, ok, I wasn't sure if this shot was taken from Tiverton or Portsmouth. BTW, Gloria, thank you, very interesting stuff.

Yes Dan it started on the shoreline north of the old Saonnet River bridge. It was a bascule swing bridge with about a 30ft. opening. It was one of the best fishing spots around when I was a kid in the 70's. At that time the trains would run on Tues. and Thurs. After the bridge closed it forced the closure of both the Portsmouth Kaiser Aluminum plant and the Portsmouth Weyerhaeuser lumber facility. With out rail service the two buisnesses could not afford to ship by truck. The shed at the Portsmouth weyerhaeuser lumber facility was the largest freestanding wooden structre in the world.

more interesting stuff, Thanks Robert.

I wish we still had rail service to Newport. It would cut down on traffic and you wouldn't have to worry about where to park your car.

It would also be nice if we had rail service to Boston.

Cathy, there is a rail link to Boston opening soon in New Bedford. Not super close, but it is something.

A rail link to Boston will in the not too distant future be open from Fall River too. But it would be better if the bridge had been replaced and rail service could have been started for all of Newport County. At one time plans for the new bridge had a rail bridge built under it but that was finally shot down by one of the pass heads of DOT and that is a shame. I would also like to know why our federal Senate and House critters have not helped get funds for a new rail bridge. DOT keeps saying they want rail available throughout the whole state but it seems we on the east side of the state don't count for much except maybe to have tolls put on the bridges we need. And the state wonders why so many are leaving here as fast as they can.

Tuna Man they've saying that for more than 20 years about the MBTA coming down to Fall River.

The rail service is just another thing taken away from the East Bay.

They just spent $28 million on a new rail station in Kingston. No tolls for the train though.

The rail link to Boston from Fall River - New Bedford is a pipe dream this project has been in the works for over 25 years and has never gotten past the planing stage. Overall cost is estimated at $2 billion today which will rise to $4 billion with the usual cost over-runs the MBTA is strugling to keep is head above water now. This project is a favorite with the politicians as they can come down to Fall River every couple of years promise the people a train to get votes and then go back to Boston and do nothing only to repete the process next election.

I think it is moving forward in Fall River/New Bedford - slowly, but moving, see the southcoastrail.com website

Dan I have been watching this project for 25 years if it is moving slowly it is so slow as to take at least another 25 years. State Treasurer Tim Cahill in May 2009 called the chances of this happening "bleak," given the economic climate in Massachusetts. I looked at the website It is just the same information rehashed nothing new MassDot is just as broke as RIDOT if we see this before grand kids retire I would be surprised.

Could be another big dig LOL ahh, well, there is always hope.

Dan I would love to see it happen but I would not hold my breath. There are several towns ready to bring this to court if the state tyies to build this line. Every town it passes through has to pay the MBTA a yearly fee and they do not want to have to pay.

I wished they would build it also. Traffic on 24 during rush hours can be brutal and the train would help. Plus property values would go up in SEMA.

Well all I know is they have had survey crews walking along the old train lines in Fall River down toward New Bedford to see what needs to be done to update and repair the old line. Some of the old line is still in place and can be used between Fall River and New Bedford. There are very few towns that an existing line already doesn't go through and it goes down as far as Freetown I think and that is just next door to Fall River. Time will tell and the only thing for sure is the RI DOT will not be smart enought to connect with it and Aquidneck Island. That is a shame but typical of this state.

The current through that Chanel is very strong. One night when the tide was going out there was a tragedy. A friend of mine lost his dad there in the early 70's. He was wearing waders while fishing and some how fell off the boat. His body was dragged with the current all the way past stone bridge before it surfaced. All of the kids in the area were told to stay away from there. The turnstile was in bad shape then. After the barge hit the center span the bridge was for the most part useless .DOT. used the insurance money to remove it

Sakonnet River Railroad Bridge
A modified Baltimore through truss span and a cantilevered assembly, about 220 feet long, composed of two identical trusses, spanned the Sakonnet River between Portsmouth and Tiverton. The circular track on which the bridge pivots was mounted on a central pier, in mid-river. An engine house mounted atop the central span formerly housed a boiler and a steam engine, which supplied the needed power; later electrified. Semaphore signals were located at each end of the bridge. A large steel tower carries overhead power cables ninety-five feet above the river. The Old colony and Newport Railroad built the first railroad bridge over the Sakonnet River in 1864; in 1898, it was damaged and replaced.
In the twentieth-century, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad owned the line. Passenger service to Aquidneck Island was provided until 1937.

I spent the first 10 years of my life in a house on Riverside Drive about 300 yards south of the railroad bridge. For the next 10 years, I lived in a house just on the north side of the railroad tracks on the shore about 50 yards away from the bridge. My friends and I spent many an hour in the abandoned freight yard playing baseball. There was still coal dust on the ground. I left Tiverton in 1975 and when I see pictures of the Sakonnet River today with an open area of water where the railroad bridge once stood, it doesn't seem right. There's something missing.

Looking for information about the barge collision with the bridge in Feb. 1988. If you have any info or leads, please let me know. Jim

Jim I will try to look into it at the tiverton library, i remember it faintly and it might have been mentioned on here possible with the coastguard i think jim lipe