The 1851 Bollman Bridge (top) c.1860s. and its remains next to the 1894 bridge in 2009 (bottom).
The original Harper's Ferry operated from 1733 until it was replaced by a timber covered road bridge in about 1824 at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers.[2][3]
Built in 1836–1837, the B&O's first crossing over the Potomac was an 830-foot (250 m) covered wood truss.[2] It was the only rail crossing of the Potomac River until after the American Civil War. The single-track bridge, composed of six river spans plus a span over the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, was designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, II.[4]: 34 In 1837 the Winchester and Potomac Railroad reached Harpers Ferry from the south, and Latrobe joined it to the B&O line using a "Y" span.[4]: 65
A rail tunnel, known as the Harpers Ferry Tunnel, was built at the same time as the 1894 bridge to carry the Valley Line through the Maryland Heights, eliminating a sharp curve. In the 1930s the western portal was widened during the construction of the second bridge to allow the broadest possible curve across the river.
Accident
On December 21, 2019, a CSX freight train derailed on the bridge, sending several cars into the river. There were no injuries and the bridge was later reopened.[5]
^Note: Harwood (p. 44) states an opening date of 1829.
^ abcHarwood, Herbert H. Jr. (1994). Impossible Challenge II: Baltimore to Washington and Harpers Ferry from 1828 to 1994. Baltimore, MD: Barnard, Roberts & Co. ISBN0934118221.