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| Only two operational suspension bridges remain in Tx, one just allows pedestrian traffic while the one, 18 miles of Goldthwaite off FM 574W, allows for single vehicles under 5,000 lbs to cross (one at a time)! There was a town called Regency near the bridge when it was first built in 1903. |
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Only two operational suspension bridges remain in Tx, one just allows pedestrian traffic while the one, 18 miles of Goldthwaite off FM 574W, allows for single vehicles under 5,000 lbs to cross (one at a time)! There was a town called Regency near the bridge when it was first built in 1903. The first bridge fell in 1924 when a young man ran a heard of his cattle onto it and the weight caused it’s collapse! The second version was swept away by a flood in 1938 and the current bridge was finished in 1939! Built far off the beaten path of paved roads (the town of Regency long since abandoned), we had to travel a mile over a washboard gravel road to reach the bridge, then wait our turn to cross one at a time. Swaying gently from the ever present gusty Texas winds after we had crossed and walked back out on the bridge, we could look down between the 2x4’s making up the road bed and see the Colorado River far below. Perhaps if I’d walked it before driving my 4,000+ pound, ProCharger-D on Livernois Stroker, TR-6060, `05 Roush across, I’d have had second thoughts! Clearly my Roush was heavier than Danny’s `64 Merc Monterey Marauder (390ci w/3X2’s), Dickey Randolph’s `60 T-Bird with Lincoln 462ci & T-6, David & Marsha Coker’s sweet `67 Fairlane (with 289 & 4-speed), Bobby & Diane Green’s very rare Factory Conversion `84 Camaro Convertible (1 of 2,000), with 305 & O.D. Automatic, and the low mileage, late model, small displacement, V-8 T-Bird Cal Summeral took over! I’d washed my `05 Roush well before my wife Cissy and I followed along with all the other cruisers out from Abilene to the bridge over 90 miles away, but the gravel road did in my wash job! The washboard gravel road also vibrated my oil dip stick part way out so on the way home I had to stop & secure it because some oil got onto the Kooks Long Tube Headers (smelled bad)! While this bridge is posted to the the National Registry of Historic Places & designated as a Historical Landmark by the State of Texas, I think I’ve decided my Roush isn’t made for “Off-Road Use”, next time I’ll take my F-150 truck! All “second thoughts” aside, we enjoyed this beautiful cruise to see what was a significant historical bridge!
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