Conrail Paulsboro Bridge
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- At the north end of Paulsboro, NJ the former PRSL line to Deepwater/Carney's Point crosses over the Mantua Creek on an "A-Frame" movable bridge. These bridges were once common in South Jersey at locations where only a short span was needed to cross a navigable waterway. The bridge span is suspended on one end from the A Frame and pivots on the other, being moved to either position by a cable pulled by a winch. Once the span is in the closed position, the bridge tender locks the span with locking bars, clears the lever operated "smashboard" semaphore signals, and cranks the bridge down onto the north abutment. After the train passes, the sequence is reversed to open the bridge. At the time of the video, the only concession to modernity was an electric motor to operate the winch instead of the old "ship's wheel" cranks which were still available for manual use in case of power failure. You can see them turning on the video as the bridge moves. I was fortunate to catch this sequence as the bridge has been converted to automatic operation and the bridge tender's position and cabin eliminated. Train crews activate the bridge to close by pushing a sequence of tones on their radio.
Glad you got this footage before the derailment recently. That's sad,what a truly interesting bridge it was.
I take it the derailment destroyed the bridge?
What `destroyed` the bridge was superior inferiors stopped paying for that guy to be there to `eyeball` everything locks up correctly and kick it in if needed 👔
Would have much cheaper in the long run.
Added benefit, keeping a historic bit of kit in working order for the next 10 forevers.
Also, nice to have an extra set of eyes in the area.
Wow, Hello my friend.. All the best to your channel and hope you have a wonderful day !!!
There used to be a bridge like this near Wilmington DE many years ago! They called it "A" bridge! It went over the Christina River!
Looks like you may have one of the last videos of this bridge!
Putting electronic automation on an old bridge like that seems like a very bad idea to me. Too many possible quirks that only a human can understand.
Excellent video ! Very enjoyable .
Very Cool. There was a derailment on this bridge today (11/30/12) with CSAO CA-11.
No. Once the rail heads are out of perfect alignment, the wheels will start to climb one rail head while they will fall off the end of the opposite rail since the corresponding rail is no longer there. Some bridges have "miter rails" which are like switch points sitting in a housing.,and would tend to keep the bridge in alignment under traffic even if the locking failed. These are generally used in locations with moderate to high track speeds. Paulsboro did not have these, so it behaved more like a turntable that was not lined up correctly. If you view my video "US Budds 1990's", at 17:31 you can see the miter rails on the Cape May swing bridge in the PRSL segment.
As it's operated by radio now, how does the bridge get positively locked to the abutment? An operator had to manually lock it as shown in your vid. Thanks for an interesting look into this bridge's operation.
Your RR posts truly impress, and amaze me. Thank you!
Do you live in the Paulsboro area? I live in Gloucester County, and I heard reports of vinyl chloride and other chemicals leaking. It's a shame about the bridge- I bet theres going to legal repercussions too :/
If the bridge opened while the train was moving, Would the train push the bridge back into place?
I think the new bridge has been installed now. From what I've read, it's similar to the following nearby bridge: bridgehunter.com/nj/gloucester/806151/. From reading your comments, the accident was preventable, and perhaps the century-old bridge would still be here if proper procedures were followed :/.
If Conrail did not automate that swing bridge, and kept an operator on it to open and close it, they never would have had that accident where a train derailed and a tank car ruptured- releasing toxic fumes. They had more problems with the bridge after automating it. Big mistake!
Unless you could either find a guy who would show up for an hour a day, or find enough work in the area to keep him on all day, there’s hardly a warrent for a dedicated employee for this bridge. Perhaps if you had the road ops foreman do it, that would work.
What a contraption. Now that's old school.
Great video and very interesting too
I used to live near Paulsboro. In a little town called Boothwyn , Pa. My Dad was working in Mickelton.
I know where Boothwyn Pennsylvania is. I lived on a farm 1 miles south of Booth's Corner from 1949 until I think 1959. My dad built locomotives for Baldwin Lima Hamilton in Eddystone PA. His name was Paul Keen.
Cool. Thanks for the reply.
Superb Video!
Interesting that the bridge pivot point is offset to one side. U don't see that very often!
As far as I know these type of bridges were unique to the PRSL former PRR lines, at least as far as railroad bridges.
When was this video shot??
When was this video shot?
At the beginning, it says 2000.
At the beginning, it says 2000.
Interesting operations.
That bridge looks like a pain in the ass
look like there will be job openings after this one
It that bridge going to be removed and replaced, or will a standard truss bridge be built?
It was removed and replaced with a lift bridge. It was temporarily a truss bridge for the time being until Conrail could find a window to do replacement work for the new bridge
I imagine that stretch of track isn't used very often. Seems like it'd be too much of a pain in the ass to use more than a few times a month.
At the time it was used multiple times a day, as the line served several oil refineries, an industrial park, a DuPont chemical works, and a coal fired power plant. Shortly after this video was made it was set up for radio control. It still sees frequent use.
@@fmnut wow. It just seems a bit too Rube Goldberg for radio control. Obviously, though, it works. interesting!
That doesn't even look safe to drive a car over, this is a train ( tooth picks)
What is the purpose of moving the tracks? Is it to allow the water to flow? Or, to allow boats to get through? Or, both?
wizloon it would be more for boats to pass through
It moved so that the fish could swim under it without being spooked by the shade. Shade affects fish migrations & reproductive processes they go through.
Yeah! Right! (hahaha)
Yeah! Right! (hahaha)
Yeah! Right! (hahaha)
Sounds like both mechanical and human error to me, both which could have been avoided if a qualified person was kept on site to maintain operations at all times.