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Club Pictures
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Camden-to-Williamstown Corridor Trail C-4M: The following pictures tell most of the story for completing the T.C. Riders section of the Camden - Williamstown Corridor Trail C-4M. More or better pictures may surface over time.  The railroad bridge was removed long ago. This light-duty bridge was suitable for ATV's in the summer. For safe snowmobile operation and to carry the weight of Class A grooming equipment, a new bridge was mandatory.  This picture is from our first exploration of the possible trail routing last winter (2011). The woods riding is quite picturesque.  The first chore before trying to ride the trail from Camden to Westdale or to get the Tucker thru, was to open up these woods just outside of Camden. Some work with an excavator did the trick. See the picture below (following the West Camden Store) to see how this was completed during the summer.  After sorting out the route and doing some initial clearing, it was time to do a trial run with the Tucker. Also accomplished on this first run was some basic staking, signing, and a whole lot of trimming. The trail has a lot of aspects: woods, fields, & railroad bed.  Slow going getting the Tucker to Westdale on the first run. . . . (January 2011)  . . . . but the troopers would not be deterred and bulled their way through.  A very short stub-trail goes directly to the West Camden Country Store. The trail is staked, signed, and groomed. Good "pit-stop" that families will like: home-made chili, soups, & deli sandwiches. This was as far west as the trail went last season (2011) until we built the new bridges on the railroad between Westdale and Williamstown.  Breaking thru the trees last winter was only part of the story. There were places to widen, numerous stumps to remove, and sections to grade. A day with a bulldozer and excavator made it nice. Many hours were spent clearing brush, cutting low limbs, & removing blowdowns on all sections of trail. The railroad was not a clear shot and required almost as much work as going straight though the woods. Once we cleared to the bridge shown in the first picture, things started to happen, as seen in the following pictures.  We needed to procure two 73' steel beams. Then the job of getting them to the bridge site loomed large. Here is what it took to load the beams onto the truck.  Once loaded, the trucking began, early one morning to avoid traffic.  After unloading, the beams had to travel one mile on the railroad bed to the bridge site. A telehandler and a bulldozer teamed up to pull/push the beams.  Once dropped at the site, the next step was to put them into position on the concrete abutment left over from the railroad bridge. The abutments were just the right size and in excellent condition.  The crane is in position to begin work. To get the crane down the railroad, we had to rewiden the entire length. The width was OK for the Tucker and sleds, but not for the crane. So we started all over again and cleared it out wider.  First job for the crane was to remove the old bridge. Fortunately, the crane operator had a rigger who knew just what to do.  The crane used all it's available grunt to get this job done.  The first 73' beam goes into position.  The second beam goes into position, and the hard part is done.  Decking the bridge was done by first constructing pallets in the groomer barn, using 4x6 hemlock planks.  The pallets were removed from the barn using a telehandler, then stacked in a pile . . . .  . . . . then later loaded on the truck for delivery to the bridge.  The telehandler set the pallets on the bridge beams . . . .  . . . . and using a tractor winch the pallets were pulled into position across the beams.  Almost done installing the deck pallets.  First bridge traffic!!  All we need is snow. But Wait!!! There's More!!!  No rest for the wicked. Another bridge to replace. This is just beyond the big bridge seen above, heading toward Williamstown. The steel is in position. A total of 16 trusses, welded into triples and doubles will do the job.  Placing concrete abutments for Bridge #2.  This decking job is a bit simpler and easier than for the big bridge, but still a lot of work for our nearly worn out bridge crew. (After this decking job, they still had one more small one to do!)  Here's a couple of "Before & After" pictures of the second bridge replacement . . .    I'll try to find a picture of the bridge finished with the railings installed. But this is the end of the story for right now. Hope you enjoyed it. Ted. Home | Membership | Officers | Trails Info | Club Events | Club Pictures | Area Services | Links Webmaster: Ted Gay |
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