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	A few miles east of Wenatchee, the mainline swings from the south or west shore of the Cloumbia River to the eastward side. The bridge is a spectacular span....or maybe I should say spanS. The bridge is the original Great Northern structure, but as train wieghts and sizes increased, the need for a stronger bridge bacame necessary. GN opted to bauild a new bridge at this location....AROUND the old one! A second superstructure on the main span was erected around the first and they were joined to create a stong bridge that is unique in the railroad world. So unique in fact that Overland, a brass modell railroad maker has created a model of this very bridge in HO scale.
					At the east end of the bridge the tracks pass through a "gate" of basalt (lava) rocks. the cut is about 35 feet deep but only about 25 feet long. The appearance from nearby highway 28 is of the tracks cutting through a high wall of rock like a gate in the Great Wall of China.
		BACK	GO: < WEST EAST >		Copyright 2001 Iron Horse America