I wish the UP’s Clinton, IA bridge would be rebuilt high enough that a draw or swing bridge would be unnecessary. Allow trains to be unimpeded by water traffic and with gentle curvature to allow higher speed.
Are there any current plans to rebuild the bridge?
Rich
I have been confused before about this. When I was living in Baton Rouge (1968-1974), the bridge was the O. K. Allen Bridge (Huey Long’s successor). I don’t know when they changed it.
The one just upriver from New Orleans was opened in 1935.
The one in Baton Rouge was opened in 1940.
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Someone appears to be forgetting the Harahan Bridge, which is right next to the Frisco Bridge (and is double track) and was opened in 1916.
When someone says ‘Huey P. Long bridge’, I think of the one in New Orleans, not sly old Red Stick…
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The ownership of the Thebes Bridge is now much simpler: C&EI + SLIM&S → MP + SSW (Cotton Belt) → Union Pacific as 80% owner. IC-> CN makes up the last 20%.
SLIM&S/Iron Mountain into MP in 1917,
C&EI controlled by MP in 1967, merged in 1976,
MP into UP in 1982
SSW/Cotton Belt controlled by SP in 1932, merged in 1992,
SP into UP in 1996.
IC still exists on paper under CN control.
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IC sold their share of the company that owns the bridge to Missouri Pacific. The bridge company is a full subsidiary of UP.
I believe that C&EI sold their share to Cotton Belt after they abandoned their tracks into Thebes. I won’t swear to that without further research but either way through the C&EI > MP > UP and Cotton Belt > SP > UP mergers and acquisitions would have resulted in the same end point.
Jeff
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Jeff, I hope that you will do further research. If you do, please let us know what you find.
Rich
My 1072 Moody’s Transportation Guide lists the Thebes bridge as owned by Southern Illinois and Missouri Bridge Company. It states “Company owns bridge of 2750 ft steel truss and 1157 ft concrete arches over Mississippi River near Thebes, Il with 4.63 miles of track, forming direct connection between Chicago and Eastern Illinois RR, Missouri OPacific RR and St. Louis Southwestern Ry companies.”
Further…“the contract between the company and tenant railroads listed above provides that each road using the bridge shall pay monthly its car handled proportion of expenses.” In 1971 the revenue of the bridge was $80,870.
Owned 3/5 by MoPac and 2/5 by St. Louis Southwestern (Cotton Belt). Both roads are now the Union Pacific.
ed
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The interesting thing about the Thebes Bridge is that it was built where a physiographic feature called Crowley’s Ridge is cut by the Mississippi River. It elevates the tracks above the river, so that a high level bridge could be built over the river without the necessity of building long ramps to bring the tracks up to high level.
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Thanks for posting that information. It never ceases to amaze me how bridge builders were able to pull off these remarkable feats.
Rich
Engineers would be remiss if they did not take advantage of the geographic advantages a site presents them - those who laid out the line on horseback actually sought out such conditions in planning out the original paths of railroads in the 19th Century.
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I always wanted to visit Thebes for that crossing. Perhaps in retirement. That whole river area is fascinating. Also of note about 30 miles north of Thebes is the town of Grand Tower, Il. Directly south of Grand Tower is Grand Tower Island, Missouri, which is on the Illinois side of the Mississippi but was formed when the river changed course and created an oxbow lake. No trains thru either community but the busy UP ex Cotton Belt is a couple of miles to the east.
According to Wikipedia no one lives in Grand Tower Island, the 900 acres are prime farmland except for wetlands and certain wooded area.
I know this is slightly off subject, but what a fascinating geographical area.
Ed
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Having lived in New Orleans for many years, I also never heard the Baton Rouge bridge called the Huey Long.
For those of you who haven’t ever seen this, it is a marvel of engineering. Especially impressive are the miles-long railroad approaches from basically sea level to the 150 foot clearance in the middle of the river.
Also impressive are the piers that do not sit on bedrock, but are massive foundations 150 feet deep sitting on sand.
Before widening, it was a white-knuckle drive on lanes only 9 feet wide. My wife used to close her eyes until we reached the other side (she wasn’t driving 
).
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Related to Grand Tower and a smaller island: When the Mississippi gets low enough you can walk out to a small island called Tower Rock. You can only do this from the Missouri side. Tower Rock is where Grand Tower gets its name. This is not the large island that was mentioned but is upstream from there.
There is a railroad part of this story. Since being able to reach the Tower Rock by foot is an infrequent occurrence it draws a lot of people which means it’s tough to park. There have been people in the past who have parked too close to the tracks. Sometimes the trains were able to stop in time and then get delayed while the offending vehicles are removed or sometimes the sides of the vehicles end up getting redecorated.
Jeff
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This is fasinating.
- at 4:50 there is a “two rail NOT std gauge and Not a diamond” perpindicular crossing. What was that?
- was scratching my head about PRR hearld, answer, private cars used.
- Thanks for the ride.
- Wonder if it is true: When neighbor Eads was built great fear of its structural strength was questioned. They had elephants walk across knowing these animals inherently sense unstable structures. They found, NO problem, but is the story true? endmrw0219251104
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What is interesting (to me and Ed Cooper) is BEFORE Thebes Bridge was built. He and I researched the the area where BOTH Missouri Pacific and Cotton Belt had two different ramps to load trains to ferry RR cars across the Mississippi to Cario and thus connecting East and West RRing. ref: Birds Point Mississippi County Missouri.
Also interesting is the story of Cotton Belt and MoP fighting for dispatching as they were both using the same bridge. The story is told in a past issue of Trains (Fred F authored of course). It seems to make a point of SSW getting slighted, a SSW dispatcher was ordered to hold a MoP train for exactly 45 minutes (when it was NOT necessary). Said action was done as retaliation for notice of need for equal treatment (access to the bridge). endmrw0219251120
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Very entertaining story, MP104.
Rich
Love that story, Jeff.
That was certainly the case for the ‘east end’ of the Mississippi bridges at Memphis. Most of the earlier development extends to logical low-level ferry or river-wharf access points. None of those lines are currently in use; everything goes up to the Bluffs (the riverfront IC doing so on considerable curves and grades) to where the two high-level bridges go across.
The other side of the river at that point is largely a flood plain, so there is extensive trestling and high embankments to go the various ways (including the regrettably-abandoned 35th-parallel route straight west) on the other side. I do not know if this is true of the vast structure on the west end of the MacArthur Bridge at St. Louis.
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yes, the story about the Eads bridge and the elephant is true. I have a book about the bridge and it is mentioned.
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