Back in the late summer of 2005 I required hernia surgery and headed to a clinic on the north side of Toledo from northeastern Indiana.
The Ohio Turnpike (OT) crossed a large, expansive viaduct somewhere in the vicinity of southwestern Toledo. A large and rather long railroad bridge off the north side of the OT caught my eye. My father, who was always fascinated by bridges anyhow, was with me and commented, “WOW ~ ! That’s some bridge ~ !”
I got a better look at the bridge on the way home since we were now on the north side of the highway. I was saddened to see that there were no tracks on the bridge. This whole scenario represented a major puzzle to me since I could not make out a right of way on either side of the bridge.
Of course, I now know that this was because the rail line that was once there made a sharp turn toward the north and away from the highway on either side of the river.
For years the bridge represented a mystery to me. Over the years, I went through that area several times and admired the bridge and wondered what railroad used this spectacular “ghost bridge”. Was it perhaps a long gone interurban? I dismissed that idea since it seemed like it was a much too heavy an investment for a trolley line.