(Historic Bridges, Bridge Hunter, John Marvig, HAER, Patrick McBriarty's page in Chicago Architecture, 3D Satellite 149+ photos)
Historic Bridges has an exceptionally detailed description of the history of this and the predecessor swing bridge. See the first paragraph in Bridge Hunter for a nice summary. The comments in Bridge Hunter indicate the proper name is Wells Street Bridge because of C&NW's Wells Street Station. Freight trains also used this bridge because when the Galena & Chicago (C&NW's predecessor) was first built, there was a lot of heavy industry along the north shore of the main stem of the Chicago River. Even after the heavy industry was displaced by office and retail space, freight continued to run to Navy Pier and to deliver newsprint to the Sun-Times building.
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| Boat View, Oct 2014 |
ChiLandmarks has two photos and the text:
Located just north of the Loop, the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Bridge is an early example of an overhead counterweight bascule bridge based on the patents of Joseph Baermann Strauss. Strauss was a prominent engineer who later achieved fame as the designer of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. The Chicago & Northwestern Railway Bridge was reported to be the world's longest and heaviest bridge of its type at the time of its completion. The single-leaf bridge is made from heavily-bolted steel girders and plates whose superstructure consists of a fixed tower and an overhead counterweight comprised of concrete, reinforced with a steel skeleton. The leaf's axis of rotation, the main trunnion, is located about halfway up the tower and power is provided by a pinion which engages a rack on the operating strut to raise and lower the leaf. Today, the bridge is no longer in service, due to the rerouting of passenger traffic and dwindling freight traffic. It is locked in a raised position creating a massive steel silhouette familiar to residents of the Near North side and commuters on Brown Line and Metra trains.
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| IRM Strahorn Library posted C&NW #253 4-4-0 C&NW built Class C-6 crossing the North branch of the Chicago River at Kinzie & Canal, in this undated and unattributed photo, approaching the Wells Street Station, Chicago, ILL. The Strahorn Library is at 118 E. Washington Street in Marengo, Illinois. It is normally open from 10AM to 2:30PM on Wednesdays and visitors are welcome. For those unable to visit, we can provide access to our collections via telephone (815-568-1060), e-mail (strahorn@irm.org), or online catalog (librarycat.org/lib/IRMStrahornLibrary). Larson C&NW Collection Volume 5, Illinois Railway Museum Strahorn Library. Kevin Leahy: Prior to 1911. IRM Strahorn Library: Kevin Leahy Yes, the Madison Street terminal was completed in 1911, and all operations at Wells street were transferred there.: Kevin Leahy Yes, the Madison Street terminal was completed in 1911, and all operations at Wells street were transferred there. |
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| David Daruszka posted Chicago & North Western passenger train crosses the Chicago River after departing the Wells Street Station. The bridge is noted today for the fact it is always in the raised position with the exception of a once a year lowering for a hi-rail truck to cross. This is done to retain active status of the rail line and bridge. Photograph from the Chicago & North Western Historical Society. [The swing bridge behind this bridge was one of the Kenzie Street Bridges. And on the left side of the photo barely peaking through the fog (and/or coal dust) is the Milwaukee's swing bridge.] Chicago & North Western Historical Society posted We are looking at a photo of the C&NW's "bob tail trunnion" bridge across the north branch of the Chicago River. The not yet built Merchandise Mart would be off to the right of the photo. The bridge seen behind the railroad bridge is the Kinzie Street street bridge. We are looking north. It is unusual to see this bridge photographed in the down position. Today the bridge no longer has tracks approaching it and is always in the "UP" position. The train is coming from the Wells street depot and is headed west after a slight curve to allow it to run along Kinzie Street. Tim Dennehey: It has tracks on the left side, but not on the right (merchandise mart) side. They do lower it once a year to keep the right of way active. Greg Burnet shared Joseph Obrien shared |
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| Raymond Kunst posted A view of Wolf Point taken from the Sears Tower circa 1974 Kevin R Doerksen: My Father was a foreman on the project to convert the North American Cold Storage facility into condos. That conversion helped to spark redevelopment in the area. |
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| William Shapotkin posted We are on Chicago's Near North Side as a loco (sorry -- cannot read the number...if someone with better eyesight can identify same, please do so) is seen heading W/B as it x/o the North Branch of the Chicago River with a CNW frt on The Navy Pier Line. Before the opening of NorthWestern Station (or "Madison St Station" or "Chicago Passenger Terminal"), CNW psgr trns used this bridge to access Wells St Station (located Kinzie/Wells -- where the Merchandise Mart now stands). View looks east across Canal St in this August 1978 photo by Jim Bartke. William Shapotkin Collection. (aac531) Tyson Park: Service on this line ended in 2001 when the Sun-Times moved print production to a new facility at Ashland and the South Branch of the Chicago River. Technically the line is still not abandoned.Tom Znavor: bridge is abandoned in place in open position. Matt McClure: Tom Znavor OOS, not abandoned. Lowered and crossed once a year. [The cold storage building is now a condo building. 3D Satellite] |
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| MWRD posted Construction of the West Side Intercepting Sewer in an area near the west end of the Chicago & North Western railroad bridge over the North Branch of the Chicago River on April 16, 1934. Various branches of the West Side Intercepting Sewer encircled the downtown Chicago business district to convey sewage to what is now the Stickney Water Reclamation Plant (WRP). |
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| The Rail Way posted The Kinzie Street Railroad bridge in Chicago was built for the Chicago and North Western Railway, opening for traffic in 1908. The bridge crossed the North Branch of the Chicago River, applying a bascule design that allowed the it to rise for river traffic. At the time of its construction, this was the longest (170ft) and heaviest (800 tons) bascule bridge in the world. It stands on the site of the first bridge to cross the Chicago River in 1832, a footbridge in the early years of the township. The first rail bridge to cross the river would also be at this site, a pontoon bridge constructed in 1852. By 2000, there was only one rail freight customer on the east side of the Chicago River, the Chicago Sun-Times. The last train crossed the bridge shortly before the newspaper moved its printing plant out of downtown Chicago early in 2001. The line has not been used since then, but it is not offically abandoned. The current owners, Union Pacific, lower the bridge once a year to maintain their rights to the rail corridor. Photo: May 2, 2022. Andy Baumann: The original swing bridge that was here before this current bridge. Went up to Milwaukee, to be used for the CNW to cross the KK River. That bridge was eventually scrapped. Kat Doyle: I think the bridge is still there, but usually in the open position. J.B. Rail Photog shared |
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| Mike Welch posted Mike Welch It is lowered once per year to: 1) Maintain ROW rights. 2) Help Chicago keep it's title for the most active drawbridges in the world. Matt McClure or both! Brian Weber Also for preventative maintenance to insure the bridge remains operable. |
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| Mike Welch commented on his posting above They use a truck to demonstrate that the tracks are still usable. NTSB requires this is done yearly.Erik Coleman I think you mean FRA, they set inspection requirements. NTSB has no regulatory authority. |
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| Daily News Archive |
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| David Daruszka posting |
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| David Daruszka posting |
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| John White -> Forgotten Chicago |
They dropped this old thing down yesterday for it's annual inspect. Photo courtesy of the Sun-Times' Chris Fusco's Twitter feed.
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| Kinzie Street Bridge, Author: Barbatus, CC BY-SA |
A three picture collection in Facebook. (Click the "X" in the upper-right corner to get to the other pictures.)
This posting has more pictures in the comments and some links: Chicago Switching and Chicago Loop Bridges.
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| MWRD posted Historical Photo of the Week: Construction of the West Side Intercepting Sewer on April 16, 1934, in an area near the west end of the Chicago & North Western railroad bridge over the North Branch of the Chicago River. Branches of the West Side Intercepting Sewer encircle the downtown business district to convey sewage to our Stickney Water Reclamation Plant. The intercepting sewer begins at Fullerton Avenue and from the area shown in the photo flows south beneath Canal Street. The Chicago & North Western railroad bridge is still there but is locked in the upright position. From this point the tracks ran all the way east to Navy Pier but now no longer exists. |
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| C&NW Historical Society posted Can you guess the site of this photo without reading further? The clue is the counter weight of the bob tail trunion bridge seen at the upper left of the photo. It is an undated photo with no photographer attribution. Do the autos signify that the photo date is some time in the 1920s? If you guessed that the street is Orleans Street and that the bridge is the Kinzie Street railroad bridge in Chicago, you are correct! The view looks north toward the "tower" which controlled the many tracks which once served the Wells street depot once stood where the Merchandise Mart, far left of the photo, now stands. The white building behind the tower is the C&NW freight office. The photo is in the archives of the Chicago and North Western Historical Society. Should we post a trackage map of the area? [Please access the "posted" link to see the comments for answers and corrections.] |
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| C&NW Historical Society posted Some people asked to see the track layout of the C&NW yard which once lay under the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. Photos posted a couple of days ago show the upper left of the map. Note the "signal tower" in the upper left of the map. Photos of the tower were posted here recentil. This map is from the August 29, 1929 ENGINEERING NEWS RECORD (page 325), The article talks about the building of the Merchandise Mart on air rights over the C&NW yard. |
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| Mark Llanuza posted Its the year 2001 tower men Mike Kummer at the controls for the left bridge for Canal st the Chicago sun times bridge that went to Navy Pier. |
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| Chicago & North Western Historical Society posted This is Chicago probably about 1930s. We are looking across the Chicago River to the northwest. At the far left (looking west) is the east end of the C&NW lift bridge over the north branch of the Chicago River. That bridge carried the C&NW line to the Kinzie Street rail yard and eastward to Navy Pier. To the right is the northwest corner of the Orleans Street bridge. The empty lot is the site of the current Holiday Inn. at "Wolf Point."Chicago & North Western Historical Society The photo with no photographer data is held at the archives of the C&NW Historical Society.Patrick McNamara Please correct the caption. There was no "Kinzie Street" rail yard - there were Team Tracks on the West Side of the River that were called just that. The Kinzie Street Bridge carried the C&NW over the River to the Merchandise Mart LCL Depot and points East. Before that, of course, it was the bridge that carried ALL C&NW trains to the Wells Street Depot. This view of Wolf Point was taken in 1952 by Louis Zimmerman. |
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| David Daruszka commented on a posting This is actually the third bridge at that location and the tracks served the C&NW's Wells Street Station, It was replaced by the Merchandise Mart which initially served as a warehouse and freight transfer station. The first swing bridge. |
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| David Daruszka commented on a posting The second swing bridge. |
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| David Daruszka commented on a posting The Strauss trunion bascule bridge. |
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| David Daruszka commented on a posting The design of the new bridge was unique in that it could be raised in an almost vertical position. This was necessitated by the narrow width of the channel to allow passage of river traffic through the full channel. |
I had a delivery to the Fashion Center on Kinzie and N.Orleans in Chicago. While waiting I shot this (Badly cropped) picture of a sand barge headed up the North Branch of the Chicago River. Btw, the sky is that color because of pollution, I also took this shot from the same spot, of the ex-CNW bridge that served the Sun-Times Bldg. I've heard that it's still in service, but rarely. The CNW page has many current pictures of this line if anyone wants to see more and learn about this spot. 1986 IIRC.Doug Kaniuk info: http://www.chicagoswitching.com/.../forme.../navy-pier-line/
Fred Van Dorpe Jerry Jackson the bridge is closed once a year sometime in November for a mow rail truck to go across so it doesnt get abandoned by the FRA after being inactive for more than a year. I really want to see them close it and then reopen it for that procedure, but I dont have a way of finding out what day and time exactly they do it.
Also, heres a good article about the Navy Pier line's history.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/.../0206230060_1...
David Daruszka The bridge was designated a historic landmark in 2007. https://webapps.cityofchicago.org/.../landmarkdetails.htm...
The are quite a few more informative comments and photos.
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A photo by Mark Llanuza from cnwvets (source: Richard Mead posting) assuming Canal Street Bridge was another name for this bridge:
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| Mike Kummer at the Canal St. Bridge Tower, 1995. Mike worked at the Clinton St. Tower and had to get over here whenever the bridge needed to be lowered. |
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| Patrick McNamara commented on a posting November 19, 2015 was the last time it was down - the navigation lights were all switched out (replaced) - Erin VandenBerg photo. |
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| Jeff Kehoe posted Here's a 'blast from the past' as MILW heads into Chicago's Union Station in April of 1967. Wonder who had the 'big idea' to paint that bottle of booze on the building in the background?---Geo. Strombeck photo [I knew this was an early Strauss design. But I never noticed until I looked at this photo that it doesn't have the "teetor tower" at the top. Instead, the operational strut is at the top. I took another look at David Daruszka's diagram above and this design is quite different from Strauss' later designs.] John J Kulidas posted April 1967 Milwaukee Road commuter train (and a passenger train with a Union Pacific locomotive behind it) just north of Chicago Union Station. Note the two upright bridges over the North Branch of the Chicago River in the background: The one to the right is the Chicago & North Western Railway bridge, which allowed trains to reach Navy Pier. The one to the left is the Kinzie Street bridge. The North American Cold Storage building with the huge Old Forester bourbon advertisement is now a residential building known as the Fulton House. April 1967 Photo by George Strombeck Thomas Karsten: Tire company to the left of the cold storage was just torn down in the last couple of months. Lots of high rises in this area now, no empty space left. Matt McClure: Thomas Karsten Weird with no Cassidy Tire for the first time in 80 years there. Mike Howard: I believe the bridge that's down is a swing bridge . Milwaukee Road owned it they also had one at Cortland by CY tower CNW . The first bridge in the pic is the CNW Wells St .bridge for Wells St Station which it's named after . Tom Stone: The lowered bridge in the background looks like bridge “JO” leading to the Chicago and Evanston line. Eric Sibul shared Andre Kristopans: Not commuter but a Milwaukee train. Note baggage car and loco at south end. Commuter locos always at north end. Otto Vondrak: Someone please explain the baggage car? Mitch Markovitz: Otto Vondrak Like Andre said, this is the afternoon Milwaukee train. There were several that used suburban equipment. In fact some of the crew assignments out of Fox Lake themselves made a turn to Milwaukee. It's not the Varsity, or any Madison job. Mike Breski shared Denis Johnston: Wall in the background hand lettered back in the days of scaffold and ropes. Lost trade. Stephen Karlson: Jerry Hund Not a commuter train, that's midday corridor train 12 in from Milwaukee with a mail storage car. The bilevels protected Milwaukee - Chicago round trip 12 and 23 from the mid-1960s on. LaCrosse Division's Twelve and 23 were the Milwaukee - Watertown "Cannon Ball" with hand-me-down Hiawatha coaches. |
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| Mike Anderson commented on Thomas' comment, cropped Here is picture I snapped as it was being leveled. |
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| Michael Reed commented on Mike's comment Right you are! The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul RR, |
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| Michael Reed commented on Mike's comment Milwaukee Rd bridge center; Kinzie St. bridge lower right corner. |
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| Jim Arvites posted On this Day in History on January 23, 1970 the Milwaukee Road passenger train "Afternoon Hiawatha" made its final runs between Chicago and Minneapolis. [I was trying to figure out why the bridge was only part way up. But after looking at the other photos already in these notes, I see this is as far as it goes up. That explains why Strauss later designed the "elephant ears" on the side that could go down below track level so that the span can go straight up.] Jim Arvites posted On this Day in History on January 23, 1970 the Milwaukee Road passenger train "Afternoon Hiawatha" made its final runs between Chicago and Minneapolis. Picture below of "Afternoon Hiawatha" departing Chicago in January 1970. [Beyond this bridge we can see the Kinzie Street Bridge and the Milwaukee Bridge in an open position. Is the Milwaukee Bridge open permanently because the Evanston Branch was been abandoned or is it just normally open because the branch is seldom used?] |
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| Tom Bedwell posted Morning Hiawatha leaving Chicago. From a 35mm slide I took in the 1950s. John O'Toole: No Cassidy Tire and the bridge is down it’s almost unrecognizable!Lol! |
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| Barry Butler Photography posted ...and now for your self-gift! “Chicago, A City Above All”, my first book. I have another shipment of books arriving in two weeks. Order now and you’ll see it soon. All books are signed. If you love Chicago, I’m confident you’ll enjoy this book. Click here to order - www.barrybutlerphotography.com/books/chicagoacityaboveall |
Forgotten Railways, Roads, and Places posted four photos with the comment: "Some pics of the out-of-service Chicago & Northwestern Railway Bridge over the Chicago River, and line leading up to it, last used in regular service in 2000. Owned by Union Pacific, it is lowered only once a year for an inspection."
I didn't notice that the trunnion is up high in the framework until I saw this view of the bridge.
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| 4 Rex Fermier Where is this? Forgotten Railways, Roads, and Places Clinton St just south of Fulton St Dennis DeBruler Forgotten Railways, Roads, and Places It is just south of Kinzie Street by the river: https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4... Dennis DeBruler This photo was taken from Canal Street: https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m6!1e1!3m4... [Jim Pabst also took this view.] |
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| Marty Buehler commented on the above posting Here is the bridge showing in an art print that was made for the anniversary of Gateway Transportation-a Chicago trucking firm no longer in business. My father in law drove, making local deliveries, for Gateway in the Chicago area. |
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| Mike Breski posted The Chicago & North Western switches newsprint cars in downtown Chicago in September 1981. John Bjorklund, collection of Center for Railroad Photography and Art Philip Wizenick In the 1960’s and 70’s carloads of freight went to the Port of Chicago, and tank cars of chemicals to the Water Filtration Plant. Andre Kristopans Looks like SW8 801. That was the assigned loco for a long time Jim Mac Donald The night that train hit Wells St at the east end of The Merchandise Mart. I was working on the 19rh floor (NBC). We thought it was an earthquake. The engineer just kept “pouring the coal to it”. Train moved pretty slow. Mike Breski posted again [Back when it was down because it was being used.] |
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| MWRD posted Construction of the West Side Intercepting Sewer is seen in this photo from April 16, 1934, in an area near the west end of the Chicago & North Western Railroad Bridge over the North Branch of the Chicago River. Various branches of the West Side Intercepting Sewer encircled the downtown business district to convey sewage to what is now the Stickney Water Reclamation Plant. The intercepting sewer begins at Fullerton Avenue, and from the area shown in the photo, flows south under Canal Street. The Chicago & North Western Railroad Bridge is still there but is locked in the upright position. From this area the tracks ran all the way east to Navy Pier, but the tracks no longer exist. |
I didn't notice that the trunnion is up high in the framework until I saw this view of the bridge.
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| Raymond Kunst - Fine Art Photography posted The Chicago and North Western Railway's Kinzie Street railroad bridge (also known as the Carroll Avenue bridge) — Opened: September 19, 1908 At the time of its opening in 1908 it was the world's longest and heaviest bascule bridge. The Chicago Sun-Times, the last railroad customer to the east of the bridge, moved their printing plant out of downtown Chicago in 2000, and the bridge has been unused since. It was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2007. Nikon D800E & Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens ISO 220, 80mm, f/11, 1/125 sec Raymond Kunst shared |
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| Ralph Leoni commented on Raymond's share |
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| Ralph Leoni commented on Raymond's share Second Kinzie bridge |
I include this photo even though the C&NW bridge is obscured by the Kenzie Street Bridge because it shows the control tower past the end of the trusses.
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| Xavier Quintana posted November 1964: A view (looking south) of the North Branch of the Chicago River, taken from the Grand Avenue bridge. (Vintage Tribune) Brandon McShane C&NW bridge (down) and Milwaukee Road's rarely photographed swing bridge to the left. The Milwaukee line eventually went past Wrigley Field to the west. [The truss span we easily see is the street bridge. But you can see the counterweight links of the railroad bridge peaking above the street bridge on the left and the end of the RR truss peaking out past the end of the road truss. Note the control tower past the end of the RR truss.] |
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| Mark Llanuza posted Its the year 2001 were at the CNW draw bridge at Canal street with CNW man operator Mike Kummer inside the small tower that controlled the bridge that went to Nany Pier ..The Clinton st tower man would operate the lift bridge when needed when going to the Suntimes building. [Some comments indicate that sometimes it was operated by someone from the Lake Street Tower.] |
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| The Rail Way posted The Kinzie Street Railroad bridge in Chicago was built for the Chicago and North Western Railway, opening for traffic in 1908. The bridge crossed the North Branch of the Chicago River, applying a bascule design that allowed the it to rise for river traffic. At the time of its construction, this was the longest (170ft) and heaviest (800 tons) bascule bridge in the world. It stands on the site of the first bridge to cross the Chicago River in 1832, a footbridge in the early years of the township. The first rail bridge to cross the river would also be at this site, a pontoon bridge constructed in 1852. By 2000, there was only one rail freight customer on the east side of the Chicago River, the Chicago Sun-Times. The last train crossed the bridge shortly before the newspaper moved its printing plant out of downtown Chicago early in 2001. The line has not been used since then, but it is not offically abandoned. The current owners, Union Pacific, lower the bridge once a year to maintain their rights to the rail corridor. Photo: May 2, 2022. William Cope shared My photo... |
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| 1 of 7 photos posted by William Tracy I’m not sure what railroad crossed this bridge once upon a time but I caught some good shots of it now left unused while on my tour of the Chicago River. |
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| David Kamptner posted Ex-Chicago & North Western rails in Chicago on May 26, 2022. Kristopher Isaac Barrington shared [Some comments and photos about the American Freedom Train using this route to get to the Navy Pier.] |
While looking for something else, I came across these wooden and iron swing bridges.
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| Image 42 via Index via Vol 1 North, 1906 via Chicago |
Malcolm MacPherson posted four pictures.
Bjorklund caught a newsprint train going over the bridge in 1981 (click the second thumbprint below the picture). Since he also has a photo of the Tribune plant being serviced, we don't know if this newsprint is going to the Sun Times ore Tribune or both.
A Steven Kakoczki photo of a UP switcher pulling newsprint boxcars across the bridge.
At 2:31 in this video, this bridge appears in the left background.
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