Sharon and I love to take rides on occasion and today it was to Plum Beach light, over the bridge to Newport and then on to Bristol Ferry Light, all in Rhode Island. Here are a few pictures of the work that's been done on Plum Beach Light. It appeared that they had a crew out there working today. It really looks good from the last time I saw it.







The light really looks good and the greatest praise to those doing the work. This light hasn't looked this good in years.

Bert

Wow! That is a huge improvement! Thanks for sharing your photos. Now I can't wait to revisit this light.

Great pics, Bert! Where did you take them from, the bridge or the shoreline with a long lens?

Bob

When we drove past the light on Thursday before the LI regional, there was a crew out working on the light. It certainly is looking much nicer than the last time I saw it 4 years ago!

Absolutely amazing when you look at Bob's pictures from last year at this same time and compare them with Bert's. What did they do with the bird droppings? Pleasant thought I know, but it was hazardous material.

Thanks for the great comments on the pictures. To anser Bob's question, I parked on a side road (Riptide Road) and walked to the bridge. The only shots I had were long. I decided to take a look and climbed up to the road and saw that there is actually a sidewalk on both sides of the bridge. Needless to say I walked out about a half mile or so and was able to get some good shots. I was told later that I could have stopped on the bridge, taken my pictures, and road off into the sunset. Oh well, I enjoyed the walk as much as I did taking the pictures. There sure is a big difference from a year ago.

As far as the bird droppings, I understand that they got a company to come in and cart them off to a landfill somewhere as they were hazardous waste. Nice to know they didn't heave them into the Bay.

I think the Plum Beach group deserves a lot of credit for the wonderful work they are doing on the light. My hat is off to each and everyone of them.

Bert

YES YES YES YES YES!!!! Looks great! When I saw her in Aug., she was half green primer...must have had a bad plum...

I've taken the liberty to add the following link to BOb's pictures taken a year and five days ago.

Plum Island Light 10-20-2002 - BobM\'s Photos

Nice pictures, Bert, and HURRAY to the Plum Beach people!

Is the new color scheme copying a past scheme? I always recall the light being white except for the base and the lantern room. Where did the brown come from?

Bob

Here is a link to the "New England Lighthouses - A Virtual Guide" site with the same color scheme. The old postcards also show the same color scheme, except on one that I have which shows the base in the same brown as the top, not the black as painted now.

Plum Beach Light

Huge improvement with the new paint! It looks totally different. Thanks for sharing your nice photos!

What a difference a year makes!

Thanks for posting the pics.

Hey Bert, you are absolutely right! I reviewed some of my older photos of the "rusty old lady" and in fact the new color scheme is the same as the old. The lighthouse had been rusty colored so long that I didn't recognize the two separate colors because the whole thing looked like rust.

I'm going to try to get down there and take a look this week. Hopefully, I'll take a few pics while I'm there.

Bob

That's great Bob. Should be interesting to see if those lines that were attached to the tower are gone. I've got to get hold of them when they sart working on it again. I've still got a few days left to give in work to help save a light.

Bert

Very nice photos Bert. I think walking out on the bridge to get the photos was advisable. I don't know if I'd want to stop on the bridge!!

Dan

I took a walk out on the bridge earlier last week. I wouldn't even attempt to stop on that bridge. There was quite a lot of traffic and there's no break-down lane. Here's one of the several pics I took.



The light looks great!

Bob

Great picture Bob. Not a bad walk out onto the bridge and it's much safer on the sidewalk than it would have been stopping on the bridge. No barriers to protect you out this this year. Last year you had an ideal situation with the barriers in place.

From the looks of your picture you went out just a little further than I did and I really like the angle of your picture. Well done! Since I was there they've added the frame for the roof over the deck. Looks real good.

Thanks for sharing the picture.

B&B (Bert & Bob) - You guys have whet my appetite and I feel a trip to the Jamestown Bridge coming in the near future. Thanks for sharing your great pics.

Ron
(CT Keeper)

Ron,

Thanks for the compliments on our pictures. That light is looking better with every picture I see. BIG DIFFERENCE from the rusty derelict we saw in last years photos. You've got to get out here to see it.

It is definitely worth a trip to walk out on the bridge to view the light. I wouldn't recommend it right now because the narrow sidewalk is probably filled with snow from the bridge being plowed.

Parking is another concern. If you go east on Rte 138 over the bridge, and then reverse direction to Rte 138 west, as you go over the bridge you will see a small area that use to be an on-ramp, but it has Jersey Barriers blocking it off. You can sneak in there and park your vehicle so that you can take a brisk walk out to see the light.

I don't know if the neighbors next to that spot will eventually complain about cars parking there. Currently there are no signs prohibiting it, but sooner or later there will probably be some posted for enforcement purposes.

After so many years as an abandoned light, PLUM BEACH LIGHT LIVES!

Bob

I am down in Rhode Island this week and today we drove out to Jamestown to look at Plum Beach Light. As Burt and Bob show in their pictures they did a beautiful job restoring it and it's such a pleasure to travel the bridge without seeing that old rusty lighthouse. It appears that all the cables are down from the dock to the top of the lighthouse.

Hi JJ, ...I have to agree with you that it is truly a pleasure to see the transformation of an old rusty light into the glorious finished project that now exists. What a difference!

You mentioned the "cables" were taken down. Those lines were there to support the temporary dock at the light. Did they put up some sort of other support for a landing dock?

Bob

Hi Bob. I took another ride out past the light on the way to Newport and took a look at the dock. The dock and the black metal work still appear to be there, just not the cables. Also, the flag is down.