Falling Down
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I would go with 30ish. I like the versions that don't rely on details specific to this case. John Douglass says he always starts at a specific age and then adjusts up or down depending on the case itself. For some reason I've forgotten the age Douglass uses as starting point. Something like 28. Maybe others would know.
Regarding the bridge prior to the trails or Freedom Bridge or State Road 25, on Reddit the other day there was an interesting post from someone who grew up in Delphi. It was posted in the "watershed" thread. This is what he wrote:
"...But not too many that knew about the High Bridge area... Honestly until these murders it was kind of a local secret treasure for hikers.
As a kid you used to have to hike through the woods on an abandoned railroad bed to find it. I think I was a junior or senior in high school by the time they had officially expanded the public trail system to the bridge (which is technically where they stop)"
Great points.
I can relate, I never knew an abandoned railroad property was so close to me while growing up, until someone took me there my senior year of HS. Happens to be where Arthur Shawcross left one of his victims, which I didn't know until recent years.
Delphi locals interviewed after the murders mentioned that they knew of the MHB, but had no idea where it was, how to get to it, etc. Again, something which may or may not be significant, but illustrates sometimes we as people don't know stuff is close to home, like parks, abandoned industrial properties, etc.
The main right-of-way trail, which today runs from the Freedom Bridge to the Monon High Bridge, was cleared a bit and claimed by the local preservation and trail group roughly 2006-ish, I've mentioned 2004 in previous posts, but found my source which is within the link following this paragraph. This site is an incredible resource for explanations an imagery regarding the former Monon Railroad's subdivisions, spurs, etc., in and around Delphi. This page deals with a trip the author made in 2004, it shows a little bit of what the bridge trail looked like prior to, and shortly after being cleared out by the preservation group. At least two images appear to be of the abandoned right-of-way (RoW)/trail which was cleared out of the way for the new IN 25 highway, which opened in 2014.
Delphi 2004
Spot is close to the place where the CPS building once stood, the main trailhead by the Freedom Bridge would be right there or perhaps just behind the photographer. I believe this is where a lot of trail users got on to the main trail, if they parked at the CPS building or along old C.R. 300 by there. I believe this is where BG got on to, and off, the main trail that day, this was taken in 2004 when the CPS building was still active:
https://monon.org/bygone_site/rossville/10-07delphi-south9.jpg
You can see how terribly overgrown it was, roughly 15 years after abandonment by CSX Transportation.
Caption:
Left: Another view of the elevator spur. According to my tourguide, the Monon would normally cut one locomotive loose from the train and run it up into the spur. The rest of the train would proceed south across the Deer Creek bridge and wait while the first locomotive pulled the cars out from the elevator. Right: Remains of an old section house north of the Deer Creek bridge.
"elevator spur" can be seen on older, archived aerial and Google Earth images of the area, prior to the highway being built. It's in reference to Andersons, a major grain, ethanol, etc., transfer company here in the U.S. They have facilities across a huge section of the country. The elevator spur is now a siding north of C.R. 300, Norfolk Southern services the grain terminal from the north, now.
To me this is an amazing shot, NW end of the MHB, looking north from the bridge, this would be behind Abby in the SnapChat image Libby uploaded at 2:07 PM on the day of the murders. Looks vastly different, today:
![10-07delphi-south3.jpg](/forums/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fmonon.org%2Fbygone_site%2Frossville%2F10-07delphi-south3.jpg&hash=1d71aab4aa42fe76848079517e1ccb99)
Caption:
Left: Looking north along the mainline from the Deer Creek bridge. Obstructions were erected to keep people off the bridge. Right: What a beautiful view of Deer Creek. Yes, it is a very high bridge.
My guess is the obstructions were put up when the line was abandoned and the rails were pulled up.
This view shows what was part of the trail, 2006. This was cleared away from the new IN 25 road, 2013/2014-ish, the Freedom Bridge spans the gap left by the excavation, the parking area on top of a berm just west of there, by Old 25, was created by the soil excavated from this area:
![tn_05-06delphi06-3.jpg](/forums/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fmonon.org%2Fbygone_site%2Fpixs13%2Ftn_05-06delphi06-3.jpg&hash=e4f7a940df94ab329e0e0e38d6b71942)
East of the above image, closer to where the trailhead where the Girard Trail splits off, and where the girls were dropped off. Roughly half way from the Freedom Bridge and that trailhead, close to the park bench where I believe BG was sitting at one point that afternoon, image from 2006:
https://monon.org/bygone_site/pixs13/05-06delphi06-5.jpg
Caption:
Left: Looking to the south along the former Monon right of way. Right: This location is about midway between the SR 25 bridge and the High Bridge. As you can see, the brush has been cut back and the trail is easy to walk. The scenery is beautiful too.
Right after the murders hit the news, I used the above site, then this one for reference. This one even gives grid coordinates and other pertinent info about the MHB:
Monon - Deer Creek High Bridge
YouTube has a bunch of videos from before the murders which show how to get to the trails, videos of the trails and bridge, etc.