Hancock East Branch Railroad Bridge

Railroad Bridge

The Erie Railroad Bridge over the East Branch of the Delaware River in Hancock was originally erected in 1848 as a timber frame, single-track bridge by the Erie Railroad. It was later replaced by an iron truss bridge in 1870. The current bridge is at least the fourth on the site. The Erie Railroad operated in the Northeastern U.S., from Jersey City, New Jersey to Lake Erie and eventually to Chicago. The Erie mainline was important in the development of the Southern Tier of New York State, including towns like Hancock.

The Erie merged into the Erie Lackawanna Railway in 1960. The railroad still exists as the Southern Tier Line of the Norfolk Southern Railway, leased to the Central New York Railroad, but sees only a few freight trains weekly. Another railroad crossing of the Delaware, by the New York, Ontario, and Western Railway, was west of Hancock on the West Branch of the Delaware. Only a few bridge piers remain of that bridge, which was dismantled in 1976.

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Hancock East Branch Railroad Bridge

Railroad Bridge

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