Hurricane Floyd in the Red Clay Valley



The floodwaters are lapping at the deck of the Brandywine Springs trestle, in a matter of an hour the trestle will wash away.


The bridges in the Red Clay Valley, which have provided much of the charm for the Wilmington and Western Railroad, have also provided many headaches over the last four decades. None of the headaches were ever as bad as the ones that hurricane Floyd left in its wake. Dumping 10 inches of rain in the Red Clay Valley, Hurricane Floyd turned the small creek that is less than a foot deep in most places into a thundering river. The fury of the swollen creek destroyed two of the wooden trestles that have carried trains in the valley since 1872 and damaged several others to varying degrees. Damage was estimated in the neighborhood of three million dollars, this would have been the death knell for many railroads but the Wilmington and Western was undaunted. Fundraising was started before the valley had a chance to dry out and disaster relief was sought on all levels from local to the Federal Government.

Funding was pieced together from various sources including state, local, and federal governments in the form of disaster relief and through many private donors. Much of the funding at the private level was raised through a program called “Buy-a-Tie”, this program solicited donations of one hundred dollars to buy one tie to help rebuild the line.

With funding in place and construction ready to start the railroad had to navigate through a host of local and federal requirements to build the two replacement trestles. Once all the paperwork was in and approved construction started at several locations at once. Repairs were being made to several of the damaged wooden trestles while construction began on the first new trestle. Once the steel work was underway on the first new trestle the concrete work was started on the second new trestle. As of now Greenbank trestle is getting the finishing touches and the last of the concrete work is being done the Brandywine Springs trestle. Both should be completed shortly and able to carry trains once again. Work on the remaining wooden trestles is well underway, the damage to these trestles varies but none will require complete replacement. Most likely there will be some trains on a portion of the line and full service is expected to return to the Red Clay Valley by spring of 2001.

It is not too late to help, the Wilmington and Western Railroad still needs funding to finish the project and enable regular maintenance to be performed on the equipment through the winter. Please call them at 302-998-1930 to help.


Pictures at Greenbank Trestle

Pictures at Brandywine Springs Trestle

Pictures at Wooddale Trestle

Pictures at the "S" Trestle

Please send donations to:
Wilmington and Western Railroad
PO Box 5787
Wilmington, Delaware 19808
or for credit cards please call 302-998-1930

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