The Mexican Canyon Trestle, built in 1899, is 323 feet long and 60 feet high and is the last standing timber frame trestle of the 58 along the "Cloud-Climbing Railroad." It was abandoned on September 12, 1947. Engineering studies began in 1989, and through the efforts of volunteers, organizations, agencies, the US Forest Service, New Mexico Rails-to-Trails, local supporters, and New Mexico Congressman Stevan Pearce, restoration started in 2009-2010. More than 420 timbers were replaced, large sections were rebuilt, and by 2010 the trestle again looked as it had during Southern Pacific ownership in 1937-1947. Timber frame trestles like this one are made of a series of structures called bents, each formed from strong timbers that supported the weight of trains and helped prevent swaying. By the 1980s, a dip had formed in the center as several vertical timbers began crushing two rotten mid-sills at bents 10 and 11, while nearly as rotten bracing held the center together. In 2008, even as employees and volunteers prepared the construction site, the trestle collapsed at its north end, but preservation efforts continued to restore it.