Sunday, November 22, 2020

1953 Flats Industrial Railroad (FIR)/Big4 Lift Bridge over Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, OH

1906 Scherzer: (Bridge Hunter)
1953: (Bridge Hunter; Historic BridgesSatellite)

This share taught me about the existence of this bridge. 

In the background, the viaduct with overhead wires is the Cleveland Union Terminal Viaduct. The many arches behind that viaduct is the Detroit Superior Bridge. The truss in the raised position is the B&O #463 Bridge.
C Hanchey Flickr via Bridge Hunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)
1953 Flats Industrial Railroad Bridge (formerly the New York Central Lift Bridge) over the Cuyahoga River in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The vertical lift bridge was built by the Mt. Vernon Bridge Company.
It was selected as the 1953 Class IV "Most Beautiful Steel Bridge" by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC).

The girder across the top probably compensates for the unusually small towers. [HistoricBridges]

Photo taken by Jann Mayer in September 2019 via Bridge Hunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)
[Part of a series of photos evidently taken from the pilothouse of a ship.]

BGSU via 1906 Bridge Hunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs (CC BY-ND)

I found this switcher while looking for what I identified as the Columbus Road Bridge.
Street View

Truss & Rivets posted a copyrighted photo of a Conrail locomotive, but the comment is worth noting:
Here’s a shot of the Flats Industrial Railroad Bridge, just slightly upstream of OX 1994. At the time Conrail still owned it and used it to service a small flour mill to the west. Currently, the Flats Industrial Railroad owns and operates the bridge, with their offices located in the control building. As of 2021, the Flats Industrial Railroad’s last customer dried up (flour mill). The state of the railroad and the bridge are uncertain as the company idled its operations.

Brian Miller posted
In what could easily be a scene on someone's layout, an ex SP SW1500 is tucked up against the counterweight of a vertical lift bridge. It's safe to assume the reused crossing signal is used to warn the crew when the bridge is being raised or lowered and that said signals are controlled by the bridge tender. Amidst all the chaos, there's a second track running gauntlet style to a switch on the other end of the bridge, each track leading to one of two industries. Google Earth photo, Flats Industrial Railroad, Cleveland, OH.
B Tupper Upham: Flats Industrial Railroad (“FIR”-I’m not kidding!). Their little headquarters was in the draw tower. They mostly served Cereal Food Processors, which sadly has closed, and the railroad with it, here in Cleveland, Ohio.

Another street view to capture the tower.
Street View

Michael Businger posted

Jonathan Konopka posted
Conrail locomotive near the Flats Industrial Railroad Bridge. Photo dated 1994, credit to Evan Werkema.



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