The old 57th street bridge has a long history in the area. This once served as an automotive bridge until the mid 1990s when an icejam damaged the bridge making it unfit for vehicle traffic. Allegan County aquired property at both ends of the bridge and the bridge was rehabilitated for pedestrian use only. The photo above with my kids in it was taken almost 20 years ago and shows what the bridge looked like then just after it was closed to vehicle traffic. The posted coordinates with take you to an informational sigh about the history of the railroad in the New Richmond area. Use the photo legend to obtain the information need to proceed to the second stop N 42 39.AB W 086 06.CDE.
A is Train approaching town water tank
B is Train crossing railroad bridge
C & E is Train crossing railroad bridge
D is 1873 map from Allegan atlas
Now proceed to the second stop where you will find a historical marker. From here you can obtain the information needed to find final geocache container at N 42 39.UVW W 086 06.XYZ.
The UVW is found by adding 52 to the length of the swing span. XYZ is the length of the bridge. Just a few feet to the west is another informational sign that shows the history of the town of New Richmond. If you have not done so you can run the nearby Historic Allegan County Adventure lab which will take you into New Richmond. Many of the structures are still there but are now private residences. With any luck you might get to see a train come rumbling over like at the time I was placing this geocache.
Congratulations to Mr. Bob RDC4106 on the FTF on December 20, 2021