Industrial History

Monday, June 8, 2026

1870+1906 Trail/Northern Pacific Bridge over St. Louis River near Carlton, MN

1870: (no Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter)

1906: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Jen Deblieck, Sep 2025

BridgeHunter_1870

One of the abutments still uses cut stone. It appears that the other abutment was replaced with concrete, but they kept the stone wing walls.

2014 photo by John Marvig via BridgeHunter_1906

This bridge is another transition design between pin connected and riveted plates.

2015 photo by John Marvig via BridgeHunter_1906

Aaron De Baiso posted eight photos with the comment: "Absolutely pleasant weather graced Carlton County in Minnesota during the final weekend of May 2026. This provided an opportune occasion to photograph the former Northern Pacific train bridge over the St. Louis River just below Thomson Dam. This structure was constructed in 1906 by the American Bridge Company from New York. It is located between Thomson Township and Carlton along the Willard Munger Trail. Many hikers, runners, cyclists, and children were observed marveling at the bridge plus the opulent St. Louis River below. The smell of rust added to the historical splendor of being in the company of this century old reminder of the Northern Pacific. I am curious to know whether this bridge is along the Duluth Short Line Railroad Route. Can somebody help me with this, please? All photographs are from Saturday, May 30th, 2026."

1953/64 Duluth Quad @ 250,000

I used the above map to try to sort out which BN was NP. Unfortunately, it is not accurate. But there is only one BN crossing the river, so that made it easy to find.

1969/71 Cloquet Quad @ 24,000

Low-Head Dam on White River in Batesville, AR

(Satellite)

The size of the hydraulic jump at this drowning machine caught my eye.

Facebook Reel

In fact, it sometimes has a double hydraulic jump.

Ryan Ricklefs, May 2020

A more normal flow.

Street View, Jul 2013

Sunday, June 7, 2026

1872+1887+1916 UP Bridges over Missouri River at Omaha, NE

1872: (no Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter)

1887: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter)

1916: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

1872:

BridgeHunter_1872

1887:

BridgeHunter_1887

1916:

Street View, Jun 2021

The UP Big Boy crossing the bridge in 2026 taught me that I had yet to write notes for this significant bridge.

Facebook Reel

The two short trusses at the end indicate that this photo was taken from the Iowa side. This catches 3 of the 4 long spans.

2015 photo by John Marvig via BridgeHunter_1916

I wonder how often they have to remove debris from the top of the trail protector.

2015 photo by John Marvig via BridgeHunter_1916

John uploaded a lot of detailed shots on BridgeHunter_1916. I note these photos because they clearly show that the design is a transition between pin-connected and riveted gusset plates.

2015 photo by John Marvig via BridgeHunter_1916

1956/68 Omaha North and South Quads @ 24,000

After crossing the bridge, the Big Boy train soon turned North to take the former-C&NW route to Chicago.

UP_tracker

1898+2006 Quaker Bridges over Little Shenango River near Greenville, PA

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Street View, Aug 2024

"Bridge was saved from demolition almost single-handedly by Nathan Clark, Jr. Note the finials on the top at the four corners." [BridgeHunter]

HistoricBridges
This span is 124.0' (27.8m) long.

"A unique square-shaped design of decorative finials are mounted on the ends of the top chords. The portal bracing is a lattice design. V-lacing is present on the vertical members. The lacing and lattice, as well as the finials make this a very visually attractive bridge. The stone abutments, although seen frequently in Pennsylvania, are uncommon in other states like Michigan and offer an attractive seat for the bridge over other materials such as concrete. The overhead lateral bracing is tied directly into the pin on the connections via a plate with a hole in it. This is less common than the usual method of mounting the overhead lateral bracing above the top chord or in the sway bracing. The floor beams are the less common riveted girders that a fishbelly shape to them, although the floor beams do not come to a point like many fishbelly floor beams.

"The bridge was apparently locally known as the 'Friendly Bridge' because people would wave at people crossing the one-lane bridge while waiting to cross themselves."

2010 photo by Brian McKee via BridgeHunter

2010 photo by Jason Smith via BridgeHunter

This view shows the fishbelly girders that HistoricBridges described. Linda says that it was rated as 97.5 out of 100. As she observes, that is better than many bridges that we still drive over. Although that strikes me as a lot of rust for a high rating.

Facebook Reel

Saturday, June 6, 2026

Hocking Canal Lock #12 (Sheep Pen Lock)

Google Maps Label: (Satellite)

Historical Marker Location: (Satellite)

I couldn't see a lock at either satellite location above because of the trees.

Note that the walls in the middle are further apart than the walls that hold the gates.

7:13 video @ 0:45
The WEIRDEST Canal Lock Ever? Hocking's Sheep Pen Lock

RmarkableOhio

"Side A: The twelfth lock on the Hocking Canal, the Sheep Pen lock underscores Southeast Ohioans’ efforts to open their region to the world during the mid-nineteenth century. Built as a guard lock, it was intended to permit slackwater navigation of the Hocking River by regulating water depths where river and canal met. Those plans were later abandoned and the mechanism was converted to a lift lock, which raised and lowered boats as required by changes in the canal’s elevation. (Continued on other side)

"Side B: (Continued from other side) Stretching from Carroll to Athens, the Hocking Canal opened in 1843. The canal stimulated the growth of Lancaster, Logan, and Nelsonville, and opened the Hocking Valley to trade. Its major exports were salt, coal, and iron. Imports included goods from the East, such as cloth, shoes, and dishes. The advent of railroads in the 1850s meant the beginning of the end for canals. In 1894, the Hocking Canal was abandoned."

Friday, June 5, 2026

1907 2200' (671m) Tourist/Southern Railroad Burton Tunnel, second longest in Indiana

East Portal: (Satellite)

West Portal: (Satellite)

Tourist trains that run from the French Lick Depot go through this tunnel.

"Built in 1907 the 2,200 foot Burton Tunnel is the second longest tunnel in Indiana, the longest being the Duncan Tunnel which is an additional 2,489 feet long for a total length of 4,689 feet. The tunnel hosted the Southern Railway which ran the branch line from French Lick to Huntingburg Indiana. The tunnel was dug out from both ends and joined in the middle, while you ride our train if you look for it you can see how the angle didn’t quite meet up evenly, and there is a corner on either side of the tunnel walls toward the middle." [FrenchLickTrain]

2 of 6 photos posted by Roger Baker with the comment: "33 years ago today we took off on another Southern Indiana adventure down to French Lick for a train ride thru the 2nd longest tunnel in Indiana. 🚂😎"

a
The Burton Tunnel is the second longest in Indiana at 2,200 feet long.

b
33 years ago it only cost $13 for the 2 of us to make the round trip.

Southern Railroad donated the track between Dubois and West Baden to the Indiana Railway Museum. The French Lick Scenic Railway operates a tourist line out of the former Monon+Southern Depot, and the Dubois County Railroad (DCRR) operates freight trains. This tunnel is a highlight of the tourist trains.

Between the two railroads, they own the former-Southern branch from Huntingburg to French Lick. DCRR interchanges with NS in Huntingburg. DCRR also runs the Spirit of Jasper tourist train from Jasper to Huntingburg.

The portal photo above is of the south portal because the track is curved.

1951/51 Hillham Quad @ 24,000

This would be the north portal because the track is straight.

Alcophile Flickr
Burton Tunnel

With a cloud of blue haze from a pair of Macintosh & Seymour designed, Alco-built 539T prime movers, a photo freight emerges from 2200' of darkness that is Burton Tunnel.

The French Lick Scenic Railway, and its freight operation, the Dubois County Railroad, provided two of their three Alco's for their first ever photo charter. It was a great day with several friends riding and photographing the former Southern Railway branch between French Lick and Dubois, Indiana.

For those locomotive fans, the leader is an S-2 that once operated on the Michigan Southern railway and was presumably built for the Philadelphia, Bethlehem & New England. The trailing RS1 is former Indiana coal hauler Algers, Winslow & Western #4, that was originally Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic #4. It's a stablemate to the RS1 in Duluth. Both are painted in AW&W colors.

This is the only photo I found that explicitly labeled which portal we were looking at. This is when I noticed the tracks coming out of the south portal are curved.