A piece of Ardmore history has come down on the corner of G Street and 10th Avenue N.E.
A railroad trestle, a metal overpass for trains, was taken down Thursday by BNSF workers after being abandoned since the 1980s. Carl Dwane Stevens, a local rail enthusiast, said the trestle was one of the oldest remaining in Oklahoma.
“They were part of Ardmore’s history,” Stevens said of both the trestles and the trains that ran upon them. “They helped build Ardmore back in the day.”
To Stevens, the dismantling of the trestles represents the disassembly of local history.
Joseph Faust, regional director of public relations for BNSF Railway Company said the trestle is being taken down due to concerns from the community.
“We have received numerous reports of teenagers climbing the trestle and marking it with graffiti,” Faust said. “We decided to remove it at this time.”
He said that trestles are still used in some places, but due to the weight of modern trains and their loads, heavier materials are used.
The line was built by the Western Oklahoma Railroad, a subsidiary of the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf company in 1901. That company was later bought by the Rock Island Railroad. Stevens said that evidence of Rock Island’s ownership of the line is still visible at the Ardmore train depot.
“I sure hated to see the old trestles go,” he said. “I know people in town have been trying to get them declared landmarks, but I think they just couldn’t get the funding.”
He said most places have simply done away with trestles. Some were either modified or replaced with different structures, while many more sit abandoned, along with the rail lines upon which they sit.
There are no plans for the Ardmore trestle, and Stevens suspects it will be cut into scrap metal.
Ardmoreite photographer Don Alquist contributed to this report.
Phil Banker 221-6542
