Industry News

Possible Central Pacific Trestle Unearthed

November 11, 2008 | 10:25 a.m. CST

Railroad buffs believe a sinkhole at a construction site in Old Sacramento has led them to fragments of a trestle bridge from the first railroad line to span North America, reports the Sacramento Bee.

"We're about 80 to 90 percent sure that this is a piece of the transcontinental railroad of the Central Pacific," said Kyle Wyatt, curator of history and technology at the California State Railroad Museum.

There is no way to be certain, Wyatt said, but circumstantial evidence is strong. The find's location matches old maps that show railroad tracks crossing China Slough, a waterway that once drained into the Sacramento River. The wooden beams clearly form part of a very old bridge, its once straight-hewn sides decayed away to expose smaller branches jutting out.

The discovery will be probed for another couple of weeks as archeologists and railroad fans expand the hole southward, looking for more bridge supports. They'll take photos and measurements, but ultimately will cover everything up again. "It would be problematic to preserve it as an open site for display," Wyatt said, because the location is low and close to the levee.