I heard the rumor. At first, I didn’t believe it. But apparently it’s true.
A construction company is actually restoring the Black Bridge, the former Delaware and Hudson railroad span that once connected Green Island to Van Schaick Island. The tracks were removed many years ago, and the ties disappeared over time, creating huge gaps in the bridge. Anyone who walked across that bridge could risk their lives.
Don’t believe me? Take a look at these pictures.
In March 2012, I took some initial photographs of the Black Bridge with my old Kodak Bull’s-Eye.
Nothing to be scared of… right? Yeah, that was BEFORE I got a glimpse of this graffiti on one of the girders.
Yeah, that pretty much scared me away from the bridge for a while. Took me about a month to get the nerve up to re-photograph the bridge.
In April 2012, I photographed the Black Bridge as part of a Star Trails project. First, I photographed the bridge itself, shooting from the shore of Van Schaick Island.
Then, I got as close as I dared to the tracks… or where the tracks were SUPPOSED to be.
See what’s missing? You would have to be a hop-skip-and-jump champion to cross that bridge.
Well, apparently someone decided that the bridge should be saved, to no longer be an eyesore in the community.
And yesterday morning, I brought the Nikon D700 camera, with my ultrawide Vivitar lens.
My eyes do not deceive me. Those are brand new boards in that bridge. A construction company has been working on restoring the Black Bridge for a while now. In fact, as I took these pictures, some hikers and bikers braved the span, crossing from Van Schaick Island to Green Island with ease.
Okay… if the Black Bridge can handle some bicycles…
Let’s see how well it holds a 6’1″ 207-pound man and his camera and tripod.
So here I am… I’ve got my camera… it’s early in the morning…
You know… I haven’t crafted a “Polar Panorama” photo in a very long time.
No time like the present to make one… Right?
I mean, it’s not like I completely forgot how to build one…
I planted the tripod in the middle of the bridge, and then started snapping pictures in a 360-degree axis.
And after I returned home and put the photos through some editing software…
I came up with this.
Good lord. How in the name of Charlie and the Conrails did I get this picture to come out this well?
Yeah, I think I’ll keep this picture in my back pocket.
You know me. No time like the present to get started on Competition Season 2014…
Chuck The Writer 
Kudos to whoever restored the bridge. How sad that we allow these landmarks to fall apart, ruining our heritage. As a kid, some of my friends & I would bike down there & across the tracks risking our bloody necks but that, of course, was part of the fun! (My battered old Schwinn survived my adolescence in better shape than I did! Dad sold it while I was away at college figuring I had a 4-wheeled plaything!) No helmet, no nothing, just me & my bike, wing & a prayer! Even biked across the Dunn Memorial Bridge once barely a foot or so ahead of the old lift bridge’s opening! Youth IS wasted on the young!
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I was surprised by this because last I knew, last summer, the bids had come in too high and I just assumed the project would be allowed to die. But apparently it’s proceeding apace and will be done in September — meaning I never have to cross 787 on my bike again:
http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2013/07/05/news/doc51d66a38dea4c815603352.txt
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