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C Hanchey Flickr, License: Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) Thebes BridgeHistoric 1905 railroad bridge over the Mississippi River at Thebes, Illinois.
The Thebes Bridge carries the Union Pacific Railroad over the Mississippi River between Thebes, Alexander County, Illinois and Scott County, Missouri.
The bridges was initially owned by five railroads - the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad, Illinois Central Railroad, Missouri Pacific Railway, St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway, and St. Louis Southwestern Railway |
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C Hanchey Flickr, License: Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) Thebes BridgeReinforced concrete viaduct approach spans on the east side of the Mississippi River. |
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| Dave Honan The St. Louis & Southwestern ("Cotton Belt," now UP) crossed the Mississippi River at Thebes, IL with this unique cantilever structure. The bridge, opened in 1905, has five main spans comprising a length of 2,750', along with 490' of concrete arch approaches on the west bank and 325' on the east bank. (March 23, 2002) |
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| Dave Honan A view of one of the east approach piers from ground level. (March 23, 2002) |
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| Neal McDaniel posted Mississippi bridge at Thebes, IL. 1948 Christopher Gobert It is spectacular. Opened I believe in 1905. Joint project with perhaps 6 railroads. Still in use. |
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| Jose Vicente Sendin posted No. 844 crossing the Mississippi river near Cape Girardeau, Mo., taken by Danny Moore, March 28, 2012. |
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| Daniel Larabee posted UP 4014 crossing the Thebes Bridge — 8/28/21 |
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| HAARGIS photo from Bridge Hunter [Note all of the falsework needed to build the regular trusses.] |
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| HAARGIS photo from Bridge Hunter [A cantilevered span avoids having to build falsework in the middle of the Mississippi River. Not only do they save the expense of building falsework, they keep the shipping lane open during construction.] |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted Construction on the Thebes Bridge, near Thebes, Illinois, March, 1905. (Modjeski and Masters) Pete Schierloh: I was involved in the repair of a rather interesting expansion joint in that bridge a few years ago. Quite the structure. James Torgeson: Still a busy crossing for Union Pacific! Nick Brezanai shared |
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| Comments on Nick's share [Eureka] |
Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook posted two photos with the comment:
A couple days I posted a mystery photo of an IC auto racks/auto parts train rounding a curve on March 21, 1970, and asked where it was taken. Several folks correctly replied "Thebes, IL". Unfortunately there is no prize for giving the correct answer.
The train in question was a test train for General Motors. Auto parts and fully assembled cars from GM plants in Michigan were shipped by PC, Grand Trunk, and C&O and delivered to IC's Markham Yard in Homewood, IL.
At Markham Yard the cars were assembled into a single train and dispatched south over the IC to East St. Louis. The train was handed over to the Cotton Belt and then to the SP for final delivery to GM plants and dealerships on the West Coast.
An unknown IC company photographer caught the train as it charged around the curve leading to the Mississippi River bridge at Thebes, IL. The photographer also caught a going away shot of the train, included here.
BTW, many fans are familiar with the MoPac's and Cotton Belt's "Joint Line" operations across the Thebes bridge, and that in recent years MoPac owned 60% of the bridge, and Cotton Belt owned 40%.
The Thebes Bridge was built by the Southern Illinois & Missouri Bridge Company. When the company was formed, the SI&MBCo. was owned equally by the Cotton Belt, Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railway, the MIssouri Pacific Railway, the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Southern Railway, and the Illinois Central.
IC reached Thebes via a branchline from Carbondale, IL. Traffic never reached expectations and by the early 1930s (the exact date is unknown to me) the southernmost part of the branch had been abandoned. IC sold its interest in the SI&MBCo. to Missouri Pacific, which also took over the St.LIM&S Railway, and thus became majority owner of the Thebes bridge. Eventually the C&EI abandoned its line into Thebes and sold its interest in the bridge to the Cotton Belt. Of course, today Union Pacific owns both the MoPac and Cotton Belt.
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| Russell Barber posted 1960 C & EI diesel # 225 at an unknown bridge. |
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| Steve Rodgers commented on the above posting Thebes bridge today looking toward Thebes Illinois |
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| Steve Rodgers commented on the above posting North side of the bridge looking southeast at IIllinois from Missouri |
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| Steve Rodgers commented on the above posting Dan Tracy took this great photo of some MPs on the the bridge (see below for Dan's posting) |
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| Abandonedimages by Michael Wright posted Union Pacific train going across the old bridge ( built in 1905 ) at Thebes ,Illinois. Damon C. Poole That's the Missouri Pacific Railroad they're on, it was originally owned by Chicago & Eastern Illinois, Cotton Belt, & Illinois Central, in conjunction with the MP. MP merged with C&EI in 1967, then UP in 1982, UP then merged with SP which owned Cotton Belt in 1996. |
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| Dan Tracy posted Northbound empty coal train rolls across Thebes bridge at Thebes IL on 11-24-84. More info on the bridge here: http://www.johnweeks.com/river_mississ…/pagesC/umissC14.html Ryan Barry posted Empty coal train crossing Thebes Bridge, Cape Girardeau, Mo, on its way to the Southern Illinois coal field. Note the hunters shooting birds from the bridge. Nov 24, ‘84. Photo: Dan Tracy Steve Puchbauer long nose forward, thats unusual Richard Steed Not unusual for the MOP Kirby Ellis Wow can you imagine today if a hunter was on a bridge with a gun? There would be a meltdown lol Bill Neill shared |
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| Mike Chervinko posted Standing tall, and fading into the low morning fog as it spans the Mississippi, the Thebes bridge is worth a look if you are in the area. It is 115 years old and it is magnificent. Pete Dunkel https://flic.kr/p/MFZUhA [About 40 trains a day.] |
I've gotten to the point where I can recognize the Thebes bridge because of the different heights of the trusses.
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| Terry Redeker shared |
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| Steven J. Brown posted Cotton Belt 819 crosses the Mississippi River on the way to the NRHS Convention in St Louis at Thebes, Illinois - June 13, 1990. |
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| Drew Lawrence posted Name bridge Eddie Dover: S/B above Thebes RR Bridge. |
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| Roger Red Woelfel commented on Drew's post Thebes sb. |
Katherine Hutto posted two photos with the comment: "Train going across prob gives it away!"
Adam DeSimone: Thebes
Adam DeSimone: Ole barge sinker
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| Michael Q Quagilano posted Generations A grandfather shares the moment with his grandson as the largest steam locomotive ever build crosses the mighty Mississippi. Out of all the photos I took at this location, this is definitely my favorite. The little boy, who was 6, wanted nothing to do with siting and waiting for #bigboy. Even as the all-powerful steam locomotive started to make its way across the mighty Mississippi on the Thebes Bridge, the youngster still showed little interest, that was until #UP4104 roared with her whistle, and he was quickly captive of her awesomeness. Michael Q Quagilano shared Daniel Herkes: Don't miss the Thebes Courthouse either. |
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| Mary Rae McPherson posted Four-axle G.E. power was never popular with the Union Pacific, with most of the locomotives ending up in yellow coming from railroads that were merged into the system. A former Missouri Pacific locomotive heading up a northbound coming off the Mississippi River bridge into Thebes, Illinois, is a perfect example. Mary McPherson photo, February 18, 1989. Patrick Provart: I think it was Jim Boyd who talked about the UP Power Pool in the late 60s with the ICRR. IC Bought 10 loaded up GP-40s and UP was using their "4-axle power" - U25Bs, Alco DL40s, GP20s. Someone at UP had a sense of humor and noticed that the power agreement said "No six-axle locomotives" and slipped a DD35 into Chicago. Mary Rae McPherson shared |
I never noticed before that the approaches to this bridge were non-trivial structures in their own right. The 3D satellite feature doesn't work here, but the shadows show the arches. Scrolling back, there are several photos that show the arches. Mary also caught the cut-stone construction of the piers.
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| Rails Around Southern Illinois posted “MoPac SD40 #755 and GP38 #926 lead a northbound over the Thebes bridge on the morning of November 19, 1973. The Southern Illinois & Missouri Bridge Company was formed in 1904 to construct and own the bridge, completed in 1905.” (Clyde Anderson) Our book contains more context on the history of this bridge as well as the rest of southern Illinois. It is 256-pages, hard cover, with well over 600 all-color images from 1950-1995. Due out May 1, you can reserve your autographed copy here: https://michaelckelly.net/?page_id=7467 Michael C Kelly shared |
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