Given that this bridge is on the main line of the CPR it makes a great train watching location. One may park on the south bank of the Columbia to the east of the bridge and leisurely watch the long trains pass by while drowning worms in the Columbia. Right beside the bridge is a gravel beach area with ample parking and space to plunk down one's easy chair in the shade of the nearby trees, making this far and away the
best train watching spot we've encountered to date.
The CPR marshalling yards are on the far end of town. There they put together trains for the climb eastward over Rogers Pass and the continental divide, adding pusher engines to the longer trains. The pushers are removed from trains west bound from Revelstoke as the grades from here to Vancouver are much less steep.
The Last Spike on the transcontinental railroad was driven west of Revelstoke, in Craigellachie, on November 7th, 1885. The Columbia River Bridge at Revelstoke was completed prior to that as the railway was being used to carry supplies and materials to the rail head.
The first bridge to be built at Revelstoke was a wooden truss affair built in essentially the same location as the present bridge. Wood was used on many bridges and trestles during the construction of the railway as a cost saving measure, using local wood. All were later replaced by steel truss and girder bridges when finances became available. This was one of the replacement bridges, an 8-span girder bridge 1,122 feet in length. Its construction date unknown, it is supported by seven concrete piers in the river and concrete abutments at each end.
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