I grew up in Chicagoland and still live here. Every time I’m in the city I look at the monstrous bridges on the BNSF along the Stevenson and the bridges that cross the river in the West Loop area. The only one I’ve ever seen move (or even looked like it moved) was the C&NW bridge by the Merchandise Mart.
So here’s the question: do those big counterweight, graffit-covered monsters actually move? The bridge tenders’ cabins look like they haven’t seen people in them since steam.
If they do move, would anybody be able to direct me to YouTube video of them? The only bridge I can find moving is in Duluth.
I’ve been to downtown Chicago a time or two, and on one of those trips I got to witness the exercising of all of the bridges on the north side of the loop on out to Lake Michigan. They didn’t do it just for one boat, either- there were quite a few boats, mostly sailboats, that worked their way out to the lake as they raised the bridges one at a time. I suspect that they won’t even consider doing that for one boat, and that quite a few boats need to request it before they schedule such an event, as it really disrupts land traffic.
The South Branch Bridge just south of 18th Street is raised regularly for tug-and-barge combos. The St. Charles Air Line bridge may be raised for sailboats periodically. Traffic on the Calumet River has shrunk considerably so I’m not sure how often any of those bridges (auto or rail) are raised.
The former C&NW bridge by the Merchandise Mart is out of service in the “up” position. The rail line it used to carry is also out of service. There’s an STB decision authorizing its discontinuance, but I couldn’t immediately lay my hands on it. This bridge (or its predecessor) once provided access to C&NW’s main Chicago passenger depot, which was located on Wells Street where the Merchandise Mart now stands. It was replaced by the current station location on Madison around 1911 or thereabouts.
There are two separate railroad drawbridges on the South Branch. One is the St. Charles Airline Bridge mentioned in one of the other posts, and is very much in service. With respect to the comment about the bridge tender house not appearing usable, I’m not sure how this bridge is currently controlled, but it doesn’t have to be from the bridge house. It could be controlled from a nearby yard office or remotely from the controlling railroad’s dispatching center, which is feasible for a bridge that isn’t opened very often. The bridge right next to the St. Charles Airline bridge has been out of service in the “up” position for many years.
I’m a native Chicagoan (although, unfortuately, I don’t live there anymore, a situation which may soon be rectified), and the flotillas of recreational boats on the Chicago River in the spring and fall have been going on for as long as I can remember. The reason is that, unlike most drawbridges, the Chicago River drawbridges don’t have to be opened whenever a vessel happens to signal for an opening. The Coast Guard has special drawbridge rules for the Chicago River and, especially for recreational boats, they aren’t very boat friendly. Essentially, the bridges don’t have to be opened unless there is substantial advance notice and, for recreational boats, there are limits on when the bridges will be opened and also limits on the number of times the b
The bridge you’re referring to is the one that carries the old IC, the old GM&O, and the old Santa Fe over what’s commonly known as “Bubbly Creek” (because of the bubbles arising from the time it served as a sewer for the Stock Yards). Since Bubbly Creek is no longer navigable, the bridge no longer moves. A shame, since it is, I’ve been told, different in operation from most bascule bridges.
The other drawbridges along the South Branch of the Chicago River/Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (we’re talking beyond the immediate downtown area that other folks have described) are also permanently in the closed position, despite the fact that the river is navigable. Barge tows these days are equipped with telescoping wheelhouses that can lower themselves as they approach a clearance “problem” such as these bridges–definitely a fascinating thing to watch happen. I believe that nowadays one has to go as far downstream as Joliet or thereabouts to find a truly movable drawbridge on this waterway, either rail or vehicular.
I’m pretty sure that the drawbridges along the Cal Sag channel, downstream from Lake Calumet, were never built as movable bridges. Between Lake Calumet and Lake Michigan, the bridges still have to accommodate ocean-going vessels, so they’re either very tall (think Skyway) or still movable.
The bridges over the Sanitary & Ship Canal west of Ashland Avenue (both auto and rail) are either fixed or no longer operable. Some still have the machinery in place but the bridge tender’s house is boarded up. There are movable bridges over the Des Plaines River in the Joliet area including the vertical lift bridge for the former Rock Island just west of Joliet Union Depot. The bridges over the Calumet-Sag Channel and over the Calumet and Little Calumet Rivers from 130th Street to the south and west are all fixed.
I just happened to stop by the former Ash Tower (BNSF ex Santa Fe and CN ex IC crossing the NS/CSX). There is a big bridge over the canal, which is just west of Western Avenue. My interest was the still standing tower.
A BNSF coal train met a CSX stack on the bridge. Unfortunately the bridge has grafitti. This location is just north of the Brighton Park Junction, which was recently a manual interlocker. Busy place.
Technical correction, Ed, not distracting from your point: Brighton Park was probably the last remaining non-interlocked crossing in Chicagoland. It was finally interlocked in 2007.
There are actually four bridges in that group just west of Western Avenue, originally holding two tracks each, and alternating as to which bank they were pivoted from. What a sight these bridges must have been when (if?) they opened!