Railroad Bridge Built by M .M. & D. D. Brown Lumber Company, Tucker County, W. Va.
Description:
'The above is a private railroad bridge of M. M. & D. D. Brown located just below the mouth of Little Black Fork, which was put in to go up Black Fork to get timber in that valley as well as to switch up the east bank of the Cheat River to get the timber between Little Black Fork and Rattle Snake Run. We were obliged to build a submarine bridge across Cheat River below the Stone House and go across the Old Taylor farm on the west side of the river to Little Black Fork and then cross on property where we had the right of way in order to save the Elkins Rail & Lumber Company from paying an unreasonable charge of $ 10,000 for crossing a wedge shape piece of land near the mouth of Rattle Snake in order to save the Rail Company from paying this money we spent approximately $3,500, most of which was an extra charge as we could have gotten what timber we had on the west side between Rattle Snake and Black Fork with either a temporary railroad or by skidding to the river and pulling across the river with the loader or skidder. The Rail Company was obliged to furnish the right of way on the east side river according to an agreement they had made with us; however, we wouldn't' permit them to be unreasonably held up, consequently, the crossing of the river ans recrossing at the mouth of Black Fork. The Black Fork Bridge was a hard one to maintain as it was at the mouth of Little Black Fork stream and we were bothered with a heavy current that washed the piers badly. Although, we maintained it through the life of the operation. It was later replaced with a more modern bridge by the U. S. Monongahela Forest.'
