A 160' long trestle was built in the summer of 2006 and a 30' long covered bridge was added in 2007. The covered bridge is a scaled-down replica of the 217' Pier covered railroad bridge in Newport, NH. John and Rachel drove to Newport in 2006 and took many photos and measurements of the full-size bridge to use in building the bridge on the MVRR.
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The original Pier Covered Railroad Bridge is the longest covered railroad bridge in the world and one of only eight covered railroad bridges left in the United States. The Towne lattice Pier bridge was built in 1906/07, replacing a wooden lattice bridge built in 1872 by the Sugar River Railroad. At one time there were 14 covered railroad bridges on the Claremont and Concord Railway crossing the Sugar River as it snakes its way from Lake Sunapee west through Sunapee, Newport and Claremont, to the Connecticut River, a distance of more than 20 miles. These massive structures were built to carry locomotives weighing 44 tons. Today, the remaining two bridges, Pier, and nearby Wright Covered Railroad Bridge, are part of the 10 mile Sugar River Rail Trail used by walkers, joggers, hikers, bicyclists, four-wheelers, snowmobilers, cross country skiers and others.
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| Pier Covered Bridge - End View |
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| Pier Covered Bridge - Interior Truss |
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