Yes, so much to see there! Did you catch the spare sheave resting in the brush? Or is it one that is worn out and not worth hauling away?
Calumet lift crop by Edmund, on Flickr
Someone is standing, or in motion, on the inspection platform.
Also, note the timber fenders that played a role in the legal proceedings of the B&O bridge collapse. I don’t believe the maintenance program on them has been followed!
Regards, Ed
Ed, I did not notice the sheave sitting there. In the recent sheave repair job, the current sheave was left in place when the shaft was repaired, so it isn’t that sheave. I cannot imagine that it is a new one. Perhaps it was left on site when that one lift bridge was removed,
I do see that moving fugue now. A bit spooky !
Those timbers don’t seem strong enough to protect anything.
Rich
Back to bridge(s) No. 11.
Bascule Chicago B&OCT by Edmund, on Flickr
Henry Ford once espoused that cities would sink into the ground due to the extreme forces put upon the earth. Well, if this baby hasn’t sunk yet I doubt there’s any worries!
Next door is the St. Charles Air Line bridge:
Bascule Chicago B&OCT by Edmund, on Flickr
Is there any greater testament to the ingenuity of man than to see these massive movable structures? Amazing, and for their time. How was that concrete formed and cast and to calculate the exact weight needed (although there is the clever way to make adjustments!) plus ‘marry’ it to the steelwork without corrosion or major cracking.
Massive structure and delicate details!
Bascule Chicago 3 by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
Here is a Google Earth that includes 460, 463 & 464
Trying to identify landmarks form 50+ years ago in Cleveland is a chore - so much of what was there then is not there now and by the same token what is there now wasn’t there then. When ramroding crews between Clark Avenue yard office and Whiskey Island - the trip could take 10 minutes or well over an hour depending if you got caught by lake boat moving past the multiple highway drawbridges. Vessel movement speed was on the order of one knot or less. Vessels that entered the river bow first would go to their destination and when their business was completed they move from the river to the lake stern first.
We’ve detoured a bit from Chicago but — well, that’s OK. It’s all still connected by ribbons of steel!
I forgot about a video my friend, Matt, made a while back. He is a very good historian and I give him credit for 'keeping history alive!"
Regards, Ed
Let us know when you come up with the answers to those questions, Ed.
Rich
Ed, that video on Cleveland’s Abandoned Railroad Bascule Bridges was sensational. Watching head on that one bascule bridge being lowered was really something to see. I was amazed at the absolute verticality of that one downtown bascule bridge, nearly 90 degrees in raised position.
Rich
That must be the advantage of the ‘jackknife’ counterweight design. Absolutely fascinating engineering there. The other thing I never knew was that the bridge was constructed in the raised position. What a challenge!
Lots of neat history that will certainly be forgotten by most folks, sadly.
Regards, Ed
Yeah, the more that I read about bascule bridges, the more that I marvel at the engineering involved with the construction of these bridges.
Rich
Hopefully not, as long as the written word is preserved. But the passage of time tends to blur the details to the point that later generations have only a passing interest.
Rich
That reminds me of a saying, ‘Historians Change History’.
Changing it to suit their ideas etc…
David
Really? I think that a serious historian would be offended by such sayings and conclusions.
Rich
A spectacular photo of the B&OCT and St. Charles Air Line bridges before they were moved together: https://historicbridges.org/illinois/sbrr/move_large.jpg
The photo also illustrates the mess south of Union Station, plus the Santa Fe coach yard complex in the bottom left of the photo.
Well, yes, that is a spectacular photo and before the Chicago River was straightened at that point.
Mess? You don’t like coach yards?
How about the Rock Island freight house at the bend in the river?
Rich
All of the track west of the river was still at the ground level, with crossings and switches guarded by flagmen. There were about 30 diamonds in the area where the SCAL, CB&Q and PRR came together. The “island” that made up B&OCT’s path to Grand Central via the trestle at Roosevelt Road (12th St) was a mix of B&O and other carriers’ tracks. The C&NW elevator slip south of the B&OCT bridge is already closed by 1930 - it had about 18 diamonds in its approach. The large grain elevator in the upper right was also a casualty as it lost its river access when the old channel was filled in.
That freight house always appealed to me because of its location and design. But, as you point out, a victim of the river straightening project in 1929.
Rich
You gotta love those “messes” with all those crossings and diamonds. I guess you are right. What a mess! LOL.
Rich
Thanks for the video - I didn’t know of the history.
You can’t understand where you are, unless you know where you have been!
The Whiskey Island interchange consisted of three 35 car length tracks, with enough room at the West end for an engine to go from one track to another and stay clear of the PC Main track - until the last cut was pulled into the third track, then the engine would have to get permission from the Operator to occupy the Eastward Main track and operate on it from the West End of Whiskey Island to the East End of Whiskey Island where the engine could get back in the clear on B&O tracks. Engines could wait for hours upon hours in getting permission to make the move due to Automatic Block Signaling rules and the location of PC control points. A train CANNOT be given permission to occupy a track segment if there is a train operating in that track segment - the control point for that particular track segment was about 15 miles West of the Island - PC would not delay any of their trains to allow the B&O engine to make the move.
During the Summer of 1971 the B&O was pulling an ore train off the Whiskey Island interchange - unbeknownst to the crew several of the cars on the rear of the train derailed and were dragged across Bridge 464 - damaging the bridge ties to the point they needed to be replaced.
Interchange movements between the B&O and PC had to be rerouted via a connection between the carriers at Elyria, OH West of Whiskey Island. I was delegated the responsibility of ‘ramroding’ the B&O crews in this alternate interchange.
The Operator for Bridge 463-464 was on duty 24 hours a day during the tie replacement on Bridge 464 - as I recall the tie replacement took about 10 days with the ties having to be specially made at the B&O tie plant at Green Spring, WV. Bridge ties have different dimensions as opposed to the normal ties that are placed in the track structure.
Wow! That is a real horror story. It was bad enough to damage all of those ties. Good thing that no damage was done to the bridge structure. I wonder what caused the derailment. Was that ever determined?
Rich
I wonder what the bridge ties were made of (most likely wood) but for the to be made specifically at B&Os Tie plant in Spring, WV that’s what’s making me wonder (I might sound a little dumb for asking this)
