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The Lincoln Highway Bridge Rails

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The Lincoln Highway Bridge Rails are presently located at the eastbound truck parking area near Mile Marker 6 of Interstate 80 in Washoe County, Nevada.  These bridge rails were part of the Mogul Road culvert which was completed in 1914 as part of the Northern Branch of the Lincoln Highway.  The railings were intended to be a common feature of the Lincoln Highway but ultimately were only installed at one other location in Tama, Iowa.  During 1926 US Route 40 would be carried for a time through the Lincoln Highway Bridge Rails.  The bridge rails were abandoned during a realignment of US Route 40 during the 1930s but were ultimately salved during the construction of Interstate 80 in 1970. 




Part 1; the history of the Lincoln Highway Bridge Rails

During 1912 Indiana Businessman Carl G. Fisher conceptualized the Lincoln Highway as a major transcontinental Auto Trail.  The Lincoln Highway was formally dedicated on October 31, 1913, and was aligned west of Fallon via split branches over the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  The original northern branch of the Lincoln Highway (displayed in blue) is shown on the Lincoln Highway Association's Official Map from Reno heading west to Verdi onwards to the Dog Valley Grade into California.



West of what is now Nevada State Route 647 (formerly US Route 40) the north branch of the Lincoln Highway followed Southern Pacific Railroad along Mogul Road through the namesake siding community.  


During 1914 a then new culvert bridge would be commissioned near Mogul along the Lincoln Highway.  Contractor A.F. Niedt paid for the culvert to have unique railings installed which read "Lincoln Highway."  The impetus for Niedt's decision to install the railings was Washoe County electing to delay signage of the Lincoln Highway in their jurisdiction.  

The Mogul culvert is often touted as the first bridge structure completed as part of the Lincoln Highway.  Lincoln Highway Association President H.E. Frederickson visited the structure shortly after it was complete in 1914.  Frederickson was impressed by the structure and desired to have all Lincoln Highway bridges modeled after the Mogul culvert.  Ultimately only one other like structure was ever built on the Lincoln Highway during 1915 in Tama, Iowa. 

H.E. Frederickson can be seen with Washoe County Commissioner J.O. Sessions at the Mogul culvert in a 1914 photo (courtesy Jim Bonar collection). 


During 1921 the Victory Highway would be multiplexed through Mogul with the north branch of the Lincoln Highway.  The US Route System was formally approved by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) on November 11, 1926.  The approval of the US Route System formally brought US Route 40 into existence which overlapped the north Lincoln Highway and Victory Highway west of Reno.  

US Route 40 west of Reno to the California state line would be realigned during the 1930s.  Segments of realigned highway would bypass structures which were part of the Lincoln Highway which included Mogul Road and the Mogul culvert.  The structure can be seen in a state of abandonment below (year unknown, courtesy Jim Bonar collection).


Amid construction of Interstate 80 in the Reno area the railings from the Mogul culvert were salvaged by the Nevada Department of Highways (now Nevada Department of Transportation).  The rails were relocated approximately 0.9 miles west to the eastbound Interstate 80 truck parking area.  



Part 2; a visit to the Lincoln Highway Bridge Rails

The Lincoln Highway Bridge Rails can be found onto eastbound Interstate 80 at the truck parking area near Mile Marker 6. 


A closer up look at the salvaged rails.  



The interpretative information sign regarding the Lincoln Highway Bridge Rails. 

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