Trestles Bridge, Railway bridge in San Onofre State Beach, San Diego County, United States
Trestles Bridge, formally Railroad Bridge 207.6 or the San Mateo Creek Bridge, is a low single-track railway viaduct spanning San Mateo Creek within San Onofre State Beach. Its southern 100-foot section and northern 558-foot section remain timber trestle, while the 200-foot center span replaced in 1998 is concrete. The 2012 concrete supports are etched with the letters spelling "Trestles".
A railroad first bridged San Mateo Creek at this spot in 1891. In 1941 a wooden trestle 858 feet (262 m) long was built here, and by 1951 surfers had named the beach and break "Trestles" after it. The line was sold by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to the North County Transportation District in 1992. El Niño storms in 1998 damaged the bridge, and a 200-foot center section was replaced in concrete.
Local surfers named the beach and its break "Trestles" by 1951, after the bridge beside it. The 2012 concrete supports are etched with letters spelling "Trestles", so the structure itself carries the nickname it gave the waves.
The bridge stands within San Onofre State Beach, between the San Clemente Pier and Oceanside Transit Center stations; the surf break below is reached on foot from the beach parking areas. The rail line carries about 45 trains a day, so stay off the track bed. The concrete supports of the 2012 segment are etched with the letters spelling "Trestles".
The concrete supports of the 2012 segment are etched with letters spelling "Trestles", the nickname the bridge gave to the surf break. The replacement cost eight million dollars, paid with federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
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