Today brought a respite from winter – sunny and temperatures in the 60′s so I had to get out to find something to photograph. Last June I visited the Cacoctin Creek Aqueduct on the C&O Canal roughly half way between Brunswick and Point of Rocks, MD. When I got there I found the aqueduct in the middle of a major restoration project.
This aqueduct had fully collapsed in 1973 and a wooden footbridge was built so you could continue your walk or bike ride along the canal towpath. So today I thought I would go back and see how the project was going and found it finished! They have done a great job rebuilding the aqueduct. Here are some shots from my visit today.
At this point on the canal the railroad tracks run very close to the path of the canal. When the canal needed a structure to cross the creek, so did the railroad. Just upstream on Cacoctin Creek is the bridge (viaduct?) that carries the CSX main line.
This line is very active. During the approximately hour and a half I was on the canal at least five freight trains passed by. I was only in position to catch one one of them as I passed Lock 29 and the lockhouse. The canal was only commercially viable for a short time and shut down altogether in 1924 because of competition from the railroad. The image says it all.
