I have been under the bridge once and in my career as a CNW/UP loco engineer I was over that bridge more times than I can count! When in high school, I was a crew member on a cabin cruiser from Joliet to Lake Michigan and we had to pass under that bridge and the operator had to lift the bridge for us since the cruiser had tall antenna or something like that that may not have cleared the bridge. One day when we stopped at a red signal at the bridge, we walked over to the operator's cabin/tower and got the grand tour. Just wish I had a camera with me back then. The operator is an employee of the CSX even though the CSX does not even use their old bridge! Go figure!
Wow thanks for the story. Very interesting. Did you run freight or commuter when you worked for C&NW? I lived in.Elmhurst Ill. Sat down by the trainstation on a Saturday as a kid and watched a continuous parade of freight and commuter trains go through Elmhurst. Have a great day everyone
An excellent picture of this bridge appears as a two page black & white photo in the February 1978 Railroad Magazine. It shows the massive counter weights hanging over a snow covered railyard with a Penn Central SW1 and Illinois Central switcher in the foreground switching Amtrak passenger cars.
Thanks Ryan--great video. The railroad yard in the background is Amtrak. I worked there for 38 years. On the west bank, you could park under the bridge--I did it all the time. The reason why the north side of the bridge is always up is because its not used any more. I guess its just too expensive to tear down. Thanks again.
@@Thunder_6278 Do ever remember seeing the bridge down? In all my years there, it was always up. In fact, the bridge was in that position for so long, the concrete counter balance actually began to form small stalactites dripping down.
I went to the Newberry Library years ago to look up the history of the St. Charles Airline and it was originally owned by a consortium of railroads, the CNW, the IC, the CB&Q, the BOCT if memory serves me. It was rumored for years that an old widow or two sisters owned the St. Charles Airline and was paid handsomely for the use of it by various railroads but that story was just another RR urban legend.
We saw that bridge and went under it yesterday. It is in awful shape and no longer looks safe. Wonder if it is ever inspected? All kinds of rust and huge holes in the steel structures of it. Be interesting to see if it makes it to 100 years.
I have been under the bridge once and in my career as a CNW/UP loco engineer I was over that bridge more times than I can count! When in high school, I was a crew member on a cabin cruiser from Joliet to Lake Michigan and we had to pass under that bridge and the operator had to lift the bridge for us since the cruiser had tall antenna or something like that that may not have cleared the bridge. One day when we stopped at a red signal at the bridge, we walked over to the operator's cabin/tower and got the grand tour. Just wish I had a camera with me back then. The operator is an employee of the CSX even though the CSX does not even use their old bridge! Go figure!
Wow thanks for the story. Very interesting. Did you run freight or commuter when you worked for C&NW? I lived in.Elmhurst Ill. Sat down by the trainstation on a Saturday as a kid and watched a continuous parade of freight and commuter trains go through Elmhurst. Have a great day everyone
@@davidurban6813 I knew of him in freight. i don't know if he ran scoots though.
An excellent picture of this bridge appears as a two page black & white photo in the February 1978 Railroad Magazine. It shows the massive counter weights hanging over a snow covered railyard with a Penn Central SW1 and Illinois Central switcher in the foreground switching Amtrak passenger cars.
Thanks Ryan--great video. The railroad yard in the background is Amtrak. I worked there for 38 years. On the west bank, you could park under the bridge--I did it all the time. The reason why the north side of the bridge is always up is because its not used any more. I guess its just too expensive to tear down. Thanks again.
That bridge was the feeder for Grand central station (B & O)
@@Thunder_6278 Do ever remember seeing the bridge down? In all my years there, it was always up. In fact, the bridge was in that position for so long, the concrete counter balance actually began to form small stalactites dripping down.
i believe it has been upright since the station closed in '69.
@@Thunder_6278 that sounds right. I worked down there starting in’71.Thanks a lot.
Why don't they use the other bridge?
fascinating information. was the st. charles airline part of the illinois central line that went west toward dubuque and sioux city?
lcar4000 yes it was the IC
I went to the Newberry Library years ago to look up the history of the St. Charles Airline and it was originally owned by a consortium of railroads, the CNW, the IC, the CB&Q, the BOCT if memory serves me. It was rumored for years that an old widow or two sisters owned the St. Charles Airline and was paid handsomely for the use of it by various railroads but that story was just another RR urban legend.
@@BarnabasCollinsXIII don't remind me of that big mistake I.C. made. 😆LOL
We saw that bridge and went under it yesterday. It is in awful shape and no longer looks safe. Wonder if it is ever inspected? All kinds of rust and huge holes in the steel structures of it. Be interesting to see if it makes it to 100 years.
It's inspected twice a year by the F.R.A..