Industrial History: Lake Corridor Bridges over Indiana Harbor Canal

(B&OCT Bridge Hunter; NS Bridge Hunter; NYC Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges)

While studying EJ&E Bridge 738 over Indiana Harbor Canal, I noticed that there were several bridges near the mouth of the canal. And a new one (blue) has been built.

(Update: these bridges are controlled by Hick Tower. There is a good view of this tower in this video.)

Bird's Eye View, West is at the top

Rotating the Bird's Eye View 90-degrees to the right so that we are looking West confirms there is a raised bridge under the pipeline bridge. Also, the "blue bridge" was probably built during the last decade because it is not in the Bird's Eye View. I could not determine if there had been a bridge in the now empty spot. The following photo is hard to analyze. But the photo further below with the semaphores clearly shows that the spot did not have a bridge.

.pdf copy from 1915 Smoke Abatement Report

Sam Foster posted
NS 4000 hops onto the Norfolk Southern Chicago Line here at Hick Tower with what looks to be a steel slab train from the Chicago Short Line. CSL seems to often borrow NS power for their trains to and from Indiana Harbor and I’ve yet to catch their switchers here at the tower. This blue and gray AC44C6M will do for now.
9/4/23
https://flic.kr/p/2p6hZQV
Craig Cloud: Caught 60C few months ago 2 ldg with solo dpu facing west. Abandoned Pennsy then NYC, B&O and J but other draw belong to? Its been a while my last and only visit to Hick.
Sam Foster: Craig Cloud The other bridge is for steel mill trains in the mill.
Adam Powell: Craig Cloud that was built by Arcelor Mittal.
Lenny Wilfinger: I used to work Hick Tower. You would see CSL power on coke trains going from the old B&O lake front line to spot/pull BP. They would keep and turn NS road power for outbound steel trains/coke trains. Interchange with NS is just East of CP502.

.pdf copy from 1915 Smoke Abatement Report

All five bridges carried two tracks each. The Chicago, Indiana & Southern (CI&S) is part of the corporate linage of the Kankakee Belt Route so it and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern (LS&MS) were part of the creation of the NYC in 1914.

The leftmost (lake side) bridge did, and still does, carry the EJ&E. The B&O would have used the bridge that is just to the right of the gap behind the signal pole.

1915 Smoke Abatement Report

I can't decide which of the remaining three bridges were owned by CI&S and which were owned by LS&MS. None of the maps I have looked at, including the one in the Smoke Abatement Report, include the CI&S. Since they all became NYC, then Penn Central and then Conrail, it really doesn't matter. NS got these former-NYC assets when Conrail was broken up. Some of the bridges had probably already been abandoned by PC and/or Conrail. According to the satellite view, NS is now using just 2 of the original 6 tracks.

.pdf copy from 1915 Smoke Abatement Report

Bird's Eye View, North is at the top

It appears the interlocking tower is still standing, but with a lot of the windows filled in.
(Update: Scott Griffith indicated on Facebook that this is Hick Tower.)

Satellite

The Pennsylvania mainline across Northeastern Indiana has been completely abandoned. And the bridges have been removed.

Update:
Bob Lalich posted a couple of pictures in comments on the fourth photo by Mark Hinsdale of Inland Steel.

The two bridges that are out of service belonged to the NYC. The NYC was four main tracks. I believe the other two tracks were originally the Chicago, Indiana & Southern. In addition to serving the former Youngstown Sheet & Tube plant on both sides of the ROW west of the canal, the NYC served a large grain elevator, Union Carbide, and Standard Oil west of the canal. Here is a shot of the bridges taken not long after the canal was built.CI&S (maybe), NYC, NYC, B&O (not a B&OCT owned line) EJ&E

Here is a 1950s era photo taken west of the canal.

Kevin A Heggi posted
Another day on the Sintering Plant....another train.....

Joseph Kelly Thompson Flickr 2018 Photo

Seth Lakin commented on a post
A view farther back looking west. From left to right, IHB, NYC eastbound both raised out of service. NYC westbound only one in service, tower, B&O (out of service and raised), EJ&E in service (light green counter weight) and in the far corner a new Arcelor Mittal bridge that’s bright blue.

BRHS posted

Three of the five bridges over the Indiana Harbor Ship Canal.

At left long severed is surrounded by a steel mill lift bridge.

The center one is Conrail's, seldom used.

On the right is Conrail's main line.

Photographed from the east side of the canal by Vic Wagner on June 16th, 1992.

Bob Lalich: All three bridges in this photo were NYC. The Lake Shore line was four tracks originally. The bridge on the left came off the CI&S. The NYC had a grain elevator and yard on the other side of the canal in the old days.

David Vondra posted
David Vondra It’s strange I maintain a bridge in Chicago, CR or CD 509, and it’s an original Pennsy, but at Hammond Pensy went south and as far as I know kinda went away and NYC stayed north east to Cleveland. So I maintain a NYC and a PR bridge.
David Vondra David Daruszka As far as I can tell the bridge farthest to the south was never really utilized. The one next to mine was locked in the up I believe in 88. The B/O to the north was pinned up when the B/O got destroyed over the Calumet River.

Bob Lalich commented on David's post
That bridge farthest south at Hick certainly was used when built. It was an extension of the Chicago Indiana & Southern RR, owned by LS&MS/NYC and operated by the IHB. Among other things, it was used to access the NYC grain elevator west of the canal.
David Vondra Bob Lalich I can not tell you how much I appreciate the pic. Been with NS 15 years and spent them wondering. WOW! No mill on the west side yet?

Bob Lalich commented on David's post
Construction of the Mark Manufacturing plant on the west side of the canal began in 1916. Here is a clip from a history of Marktown document.

HalstEd Pazdzior posted
CP 7058 through CP502. Canadian Pacific's 7058 a SD70ACU heads east through East Chicago on NS. With rumors floating around that these units were "trail only" it was a good sight to see one leading.
1/28/21
[Because of the human resources building for the steel mill, a public road does get rather close to this location.]

(new window) The bridge goes up starting at 5:35, but just for a maintenance test. Then one of the normally up Rall bridges starts down at 6:21. Looking at later scenes, that bridge did go all the way down.

Art Gross Flickr 2019 Photo looking downstream from Dickey Road

Nick Hart posted
ArcelorMittal GP15-1's 418 and 417 are seen making their way across the Indiana Harbor Canal in East Chicago, IN. They're shoving a train of NS coke cars into the Indiana Harbor plant for loading. Word on the street is that new owner, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc has started the process of patching over the ArcelorMittal lettering on a number of the locomotives. Get your shots, now. Photo taken back in July of 2020.
[The hot stoves for some old blast furnaces are still standing. Do they have asbestoes?]