Here is the pic that appeared in the Westport Wave of September 1, 2013:

Ten Mile Bridge in 1949

Two bridges at the same time? Er, no. Let Thad Van Beuren, archaeologist and local author, explain:

“Jan Haagen-Smit shared the image above of two former bridges over the lower Ten Mile River. I’m guessing this was taken around the time the railroad was converted to the haul road in 1949. The bridge on the right was built in 1916 at the time that the (Union Lumber Company’s) Ten Mile Branch railroad was constructed. There is evidence of recent demolition of the railway with bulldozer tracks and rails in the foreground. The old bridge is blocked off and a car is visible on the new low-slung bridge. The approaches to the new bridge are very newly placed fill with no plant growth. It was a time of big changes in the woods and along the state highway.”

The Union Lumber Company’s Ten Mile Branch ran from the Mill site in Fort Bragg north along the coast over five trestles till it came to Ten Mile River. At Ten Mile River the railroad made a huge sweeping turn to follow the river eastwards inland.

The ocean  front portion of the Ten Mile Railroad route is now a dedicated hiking and equestrian trail from Pudding Creek to Ten Mile. Between 1916 and 1949, the Ten Mile Railroad was a working logging line carrying few passengers except for woods workers and their families who lived in the camps along the Ten Mile River. After the change to truck hauling in 1949, Union Lumber and successors Boise-Cascade and Georgia-Pacific used the railroad route as a logging road until 1983 when winter storms damaged the oceanfront portion of the road. The old railroad bed east of the Ten Mile Bridge is still used by Georgia-Pacific [and its current owners] as a logging road.

The railroad was discontinued June 17, 1949 and replaced by a private trucking road, which in turn was abandoned in 1983. The road is now owned by the people of California through the State Parks system.

North of the access to MacKerricher State Park at Ward Avenue, the route of the Ten Mile Railroad enters the ocean side edge of the Ten Mile sand dunes. The transition point, where the bluffs end and the dunes begin, was the site of a major El Nino washout in February 1998 when the remains of an old railroad trestle could be seen after the pavement toppled to the beach. Subsequent storms washed away most of this trestle.

Remains of an Inlenook Fen Tresrle

Last winter there was a lot of heavy surf and very high tides along the coast with a lot movement of the beach and much debris washed up. Club member Mike Aplet and his charming wife are great hikers. They recently (Spring 2017) walked along the beach along the Inglenook Fen section of the Ten Mile Branch found, and photographed – see below – pieces of the Inglenook Fen Trestle.

Bent Cap from the Inglenook Fen Trestle

Bent Cap from the Inglenook Fen Trestle

Rare photos of something long gone.

Thanks Mike.