Why not add this bridge detail?

[nachoman]

Sorry, Kevin ... I guess we did stray a bit!

I think I heard about that bridge fire on the news a while back. Wasn't there talk that it might not have started from "natural" causes? Have they found out any more about that?

Just wondering if we're headed for another abandoned line ... due to the cost to restore the bridge to operating condition!

If you read on the narrow gauge discussion boards, that tend to be full of conspiracy folks, there was tons of speculation from fireworks to vandalism. But the fire investigation ruled out all those possibilities, and said the most likely cause of fire was the train. Given that trestle fires caused by steam locomotive embers are common throughout railroading history, this sounds like the most likely scenario. The origin of the alternative causes was due to several people hearing an loud explosion. The "explosion" likely was the bridge structure buckling under the heat (one of the bents is actually pulled away from its footing).

The cost of the bridge replacement will be several million dollars. Several hundred thousand will come from an insurance policy, some from private donations, but the remainder will have to come from the owners of the railroad, who happen to be the states of Colorado and New Mexico. Being an election year, obtaining public funding for such a project may be tricky and probably won't happen until next year. Don't fret, though, because the railroad is a not-for-profit operation and owned by the states, it is unlikely the whole thing will be shut down. In the meantime, they are bussing people the few miles around the damaged bridge, and other than that it is business as usual.

Of course, I am not an authority on this, I am just relaying what I read online and in the publicly available engineering reports.