Talk:List of crossings of the Connecticut River

Pittsburg-Clarksville Bridge
Structurae covers this really cool covered bridge, but I've not been able to co-relate any of the bridges in the list to it. If it's not in the list, I don't know where to insert it or get location information regarding lat/long coords. Suggestions? Other than driving up there, that is. I'm already thinking about doing that anyway.

Denimadept 03:56, 19 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Presumably, this is the bridge being referred to. In the table, it should be just before the NH Route 145 bridge. --Polaron | Talk 04:51, 19 July 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't know how you did that, but it looks good so I added it to the list. Denimadept 14:33, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Extra header
I tried getting rid of the extra header, as it looks strange in the TOC to have a header with only one entry at its level. Unfortunately, when I did that, the table moved such that it occurs to the left of the thumb image on the right. Is there a way to use the regular width of the page and eliminate the extra header?

Denimadept 21:15, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Much better, Dan. Adding a "References" header helps. Denimadept 21:54, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

Yet Another Rail Bridge
Found another rail bridge downstream and within sight of the General Pierce Bridge. It's not the same as the Springfield Terminal railroad bridge further downstream. Got a picture from the Montague bridge, but until I know more about the bridge I got, I don't want to post it. Denimadept


 * Does help? --NE2 11:48, 29 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Yes, I think it does! At least I can label it now, thanks.  Looks like the General Pierce Bridge is on the site of an older rail bridge, as well.  They seem to have done this kind of thing a lot when building roads. Denimadept 13:53, 29 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Here's the predecessor of the Pierce Bridge: WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Proprietors of Connecticut River Bridge --NE2 05:30, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Notes column gone!
VerruckteDan, why did you get rid of the Notes column? We had good stuff in there. What's more, I've been treating the "Built" column as the Notes column. I want that back. Denimadept 05:26, 30 July 2007 (UTC)


 * I removed the Notes columns, because it was a mostly unused column. Only a handful of crossings (I think about 4) had comments in the notes and I moved that information to the articles.  Also, the notes column has a tendency to get cluttered with information because there is no real guidance as to what information should go there.  This cluttering reduces the readability of the table especially for users with lower resolution monitor settings as the text gets bunched up.  Any information that might go into the notes column is probably more appropriate in the body of the articles instead.  VerruckteDan 20:41, 30 July 2007 (UTC)


 * That works when articles exist. Granted, we're creating articles for everything fairly quickly now.  I've got pics of two more bridges, one of which is quite mundane, and the other of which is less mundane.  Denimadept 21:19, 30 July 2007 (UTC)


 * If an article doesn't exist, but there's a fact that could be included in a notes column, then it seems like good situation to create an article. VerruckteDan 21:48, 30 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Agreed. Denimadept 21:50, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Bridge Street
I've found that the existence of a "Bridge Street" is often an indicator that there was a bridge there at one time. I've noticed such a street in both Springfield and West Springfield at about the same location on the river, just upstream of the Springfield Memorial Bridge. There is no sign of this bridge other than the implications of the two roads. I'm asking Springfield if they've got any information about this bridge, to see what they might say. For now, I've inserted an entry between the Memorial Bridge and the CSX bridge further upstream. - Denimadept (talk) 22:54, 14 December 2007 (UTC)
 * That is probably the approach for the previous structure that was on the same site as the present Memorial Bridge. There were actually two previous structures: one from 1805-1814 and another from 1816-1920. See for some information. I don't know whether it is preferable to treat this as a completely separate bridge or discuss it as part of the history of the Memorial Bridge. --Polaron | Talk 23:22, 14 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Got more information. Yes, it's from the previous bridge near the current site of the Memorial Bridge.  My feeling at this point is that this should be a part of the existing article, with a pointer here to the relevant part of the article.  I'll get on it. - Denimadept (talk) 16:33, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

Defunct crossings
How much do we care about these? I just noticed a Jones Ferry Road (at 42.1715°N, -72.62843°W) on both sides of the river. I seem to recall this being mentioned by the Whittlesey book, but didn't pay attention to it. He lists several defunct ferries as of 1938, in fact. The only ones which weren't defunct at that time are the ones still operating and already listed. Like the "Bridge Street" method I mentioned above, X Ferry Road seems like a pretty juicy way to find these. I found another one too, Munn's Ferry Road in Northfield at 42.65168°N, -72.46762°W, though the active road appears to only be on the west side of the river now. - Denimadept (talk) 20:24, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

Wells River Bridge
If anyone wants to write an article about the Wells River Bridge, there's a bit from the Interstate Commerce Commission valuation report at WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Proprietors of Wells River Bridge, and more in The Turnpikes of New England. From you can confirm that the current rail bridge is in the location of the old joint bridge. --NE2 05:28, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Good, you found a name for the hulk. Seen it, got pictures.  It's a fairly typical deep deck truss with rails on top, which go west from the bridge but not east.  East, there's a parking lot and a grocery store. - Denimadept (talk) 05:54, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Here's the railroad that crossed it (Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad). --NE2 05:59, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Found a bunch of these pics. A few of them are okay.  Let's see....  Okay, uploaded.  See 225-23 Wells River Bridge.jpg. - Denimadept (talk) 06:30, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 * By the way, the curved shadow on the water, bottom left on the image, is the Ranger Bridge. Neat structure.  Took LOTS of pics. - Denimadept (talk) 06:52, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

No one wrote an article about either of these bridges! Sigh. I found out more about the Wells River Bridge. The references you included do not mention that the road deck was removed in 1916, or maybe 1917 when the bridge was purchased? unclear. - Denimadept (talk) 05:09, 30 April 2011 (UTC)

Hatfield Bridge and Northampton Toll Bridge
I was really thrilled to see the new entries. It's good to see someone cares. I've placed the Hatfield Bridge in order with the others. From what I can see on the satellite photos, it looks like there's a transmission line crossing the river at that point now. Or it could just be some kind of graphical artifact, I suppose. I can't go look now, unfortunately. I didn't see that location when I traversed the length of the river back in 2007.

The Northampton Toll Bridge appears to be a predecessor to the Calvin Coolidge Bridge which I hadn't known about. It should, therefore, be mentioned in that bridge's article. I don't know if it really should have a separate entry on its own, but I don't feel strongly about it either, since there are separate entries for other missing/demolished/collapsed bridges in this list.

More information would be welcome. Maybe someone can scrounge up an image of these structures? Photographs would be unlikely in the Hatfield Bridge's case, but we don't have dates for the Northampton Toll Bridge, unless it is the bridge destroyed by the 1936 Flood, which I do have an image of, and have already inserted a reference to, though it's copyrighted so we can't include it directly, unless someone can get permission. - Denimadept (talk) 05:04, 30 April 2011 (UTC)


 * I still want to know. In this image, is the bridge in the middle of the shot the old Toll Bridge being destroyed by the 1936 Flood, or is it something else?  Whatever that bridge is, it's clearly on the identical location as the current Coolidge bridge. - Denimadept (talk) 15:35, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Destroyed Montague bridges
I just bought a couple of postcards of these on eBay. I'll figure a way to place them if possible once they arrive. - Denimadept (talk) 03:00, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

In the aftermath of deletion
In the aftermath of the deletion of the northern-most bridge articles, shall I start posting images of these bridges in the "Image" column? I got them all in 2007. - Denimadept (talk) 03:53, 11 October 2016 (UTC)