Another Kate Shelley Bridge question

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

Years ago, when I was a student at nearby Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, and a railfan then too, I visited the bridge west of Boone and learned that a railroad employee walked across the bridge and back after each train passed over the bridge, looking for debris or damage to the bridge; anything that might cause a derailment. Does anyone else remember this? Is this still in practice? If not, when was it discontinued?

A couple of more bits of info; this was in the mid 1960s when I was a student and the bridge inspector, for lack of a better term, had a small shack at the east end of the bridge for protection from the weather when he was not out on the bridge itself.

Can anyone add any insight to this subject?

Thanks, Bill

2

That practice was ended many years ago. I think it was the early 1970s when it was stopped. About the time the employees assigned where beginning to retire. At one time, there were guard shacks on either end of the bridge.

A few years ago, the Boone newspaper reprinted articles in a special section for the 100th anniversary of the bridge. One article from around 1964 was about the men assigned to watch over the bridge. At that time, it stated there were only 8 to 10 trains a day going over the bridge.

Jeff