About
The Fisher Covered Railroad Bridge, also called the Chubb bridge, crosses the Lamoille River southeast of Wolcott village, south of Vermont Route 15. It is a double Town lattice bridge about 103.5 feet long, built in 1908 for the St. Johnsbury and Lamoille County Railroad. It no longer carries trains or cars and is part of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.
History
The bridge was built in 1908 on the St. Johnsbury and Lamoille County line, which the Boston and Maine Railroad controlled; the Vermont Covered Bridge Society names Pratt Construction as builder. In 1968 it was threatened with demolition in favor of a steel truss. Instead, a pier was built in the river and steel girders were installed beneath the deck to carry the load, and opening ceremonies were held on October 17, 1968. Trains used it into the 1990s.
The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 1, 1974, when it was the last covered bridge in the United States carrying railroad traffic. The roof and rafters were repaired in 2001, and the bridge was rehabilitated from 2021 to 2023 as part of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.
Design
The bridge uses a doubled Town lattice truss, a rare type in Vermont. Its full-length roof monitor, or cupola, was built to vent smoke from steam engines, and the Vermont Covered Bridge Society calls it the only one of its kind. It is one of two covered railroad bridges remaining in Vermont.
Visiting
The bridge is on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail in Wolcott. It is closed to vehicles and used by trail traffic.
Sources: Fisher Covered Railroad Bridge, Wikipedia, Fisher Covered Bridge, Vermont Covered Bridge Society
Photo: Dougtone, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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