The Manayunk Viaduct (also known as the Pencoyd Viaduct, and Schuylkill River Railroad Bridge) is an S-shaped former railroad bridge that connects Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County and the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia. The 0.4 milelong Bridge was completed in 1918 and was closed to rail traffic in 1986. Between 2008 and 2010, SEPTA removed all 2.5 miles of tracks north of Cynwyd for the Cynwyd Heritage Trail. (Slide taken in 1985 or 86 by Robert Wanner).
After several decades of neglect, a $5.76 million project revitalized this almost-forgotten bridge and transformed it into the Manayunk Bridge Trail which opened in late 2015. In the process, the short but important trail linked two other popular trails in neighboring Montgomery and Philadelphia counties and it is now an extension of the Cynwyd Heritage Trail (along the river's west bank) and connects to the Schuykill River Trail (along the east bank).
This pedestrian and bicycling friendly trail offers panoramic views of The Manayunk Canal, Schuykill River, Rt 76 Expressway, and active train tracks. If you are lucky you will see birds of prey such as hawks and falcons using the bridge as a vantage point. In 2022 lights and security cameras were installed to allow for 24/7 access.
The posted coordinates will take you to a place on the Viaduct where there is a Delineation Line separating Manayunk and Lower Merion.
To claim this cache, Post a picture of yourself with a personal signature item such as your GPSr at the posted coordinates with some of the bridge in the background. You do not need your face in the photo but you really have to do this to claim a smiley.
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.