Saturday, July 30, 2016

Trail/Wabash Bridge over Kankakee River at Custer Park

(Bridge Hunter; Satellite)
Bill Molony posted
Looking railroad south through the Wabash Railroad's bridge over the Kankakee River at Custer Park. 
Undated, but circa 1950's.
The Custer Park station can be seen in the background, by looking through the bridge.
It looks like one of the trusses was allowed to deteriorate so much that it was replaced by a steel girder span.
Birds-Eye View
I'm going to have to do another trip on IL-102 from Wilmington, but find Rivals Road and go south to Rivals Lookout Park. One reason Custer Park is now a small town is that it does not have a road bridge to go along with the railroad bridge.

Update:
Bob Dodge posted
Richard Fiedler commented on Bob's posting:
'm thinking the building at the end is the pump house for the water tank in Custer Park
Forest Preserve District of Will County posted
Walking or riding the Wauponsee Glacial Trail bridge over the Kankakee River is one thing, but flying over it offers a whole different perspective. The view Monday afternoon ... (Photo by Chad Merda)

Richard Mead shared
http://johnmarvigbridges.org/IL%20Pictures/Custer%20Park%20Derailment%20Newspaper.jpg
Richard FiedlerGroup Admin Derailment occurred in the summer of 1968.

The Blackhawk Railway Historical Society posted
On August 22nd, 1968, 23 cars of a southbound Norfolk & Western Railway freight train plunged into the Kankakee River at Custer Park.
The freight train was enroute from Chicago to Decatur and totaled 97 cars.
A spokesman for the Norfolk & Western said that two wrecking crews were attempting to clear the track and recover the cars.
"There were about 29 cars involved in the derailment and 23 of them are in the river," the spokesman said. He said the N&W may have to detour its trains to tracks of either the Illinois Central or Penn Central railroads in order to cross the Kankakee River.
Police said the southbound freight train consisted in part of flatcars carrying old railroad boxcars. Some of these cars apparently shifted in transit and struck the side of the bridge causing the collapse, they said.

Alan G Lowery posted
[Bob Dodge posted several photos as comments.]


Forgotten Railways, Roads, and Places posted a then+now photo.


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2 comments:

  1. Mark ShellNovember 8, 2021 at 6:36 PM

    I was 12 years old when this occurred, and my father took us down to see the wreck, we where allowed all over the place, amazing, I did not take a camera, but have vivid thoughts of the site. Rumor was that can goods where in one of the train cars, and Wilmington people where picking them up in the river in Wilmington.

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  2. UnknownNovember 24, 2021 at 3:23 PM

    I have many photos of this wreck. My Grandpa Ray H. Lain worked that railroad from 1946-1981

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