This Salisbury Post file photo, published on June 3, 1981, shows a woman making a lonely walk on the tracks below Shober Bridge, which still crosses the railroad on North Ellis Street. The bridge was initially constructed out of wood in 1857, not long after the Western Railroad was chartered in 1855. It was named for its proximity to to the home of Francis E. Shober, a congressman, lawyer and clerk to the U.S. Senate. Shober’s house occupied the entire block bounded by Fulton, Kerr, Ellis and Liberty streets. During the Depression, Shober Bridge was a death trap for hobos. Between 1930 and 1932 alone, four hobos were killed as they stood atop freight trains and bashed their heads on the understructure of the bridge. At least five other injuries were recorded at the bridge, under similar circumstances, not counting the death in 1944 of Southern Railway brakeman James Moody of Asheville.