Plans, Trains, and Automobiles

The Belmont Bridge, coal's decline, and passenger train service from the Blue Ridge to The Beach.

The rail yard beneath the Belmont Bridge in the 1960s. Photo: Ed Roseberry

Back in 2012, during planning discussions about replacing the Belmont Bridge, several people made compelling arguments that we no longer needed a bridge at all because train traffic beneath it - the reason for the bridge - would decline as demand for coal diminished. That's becaus…