All of the spans except the second and third ones from the east are pin connected. John describes the corporate history of the railroads responsible for this bridge. [JohnMarvig]
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| John A. Weeks III When it was built, the 444' swing span was the longest swing span in the nation. |
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| Birds-Eye View |
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| Panorama constructed from 13 photos by fmiser, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA) |
The predecessor bridge.
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| BridgeHunter-1873, Public Domain, published prior to 1923 |
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| BridgeHunter-1873, Public Domain, published prior to 1923 Lisa Ruble posted This railroad bridge that crossed the Mississippi River from Louisiana Missouri to Pike County Illinois was built in 1873 with the last rail laid in December 1873. The railroad bridge was one of the first fifteen bridges that was built across the Mississippi River. On November 7th 1876 at 2 o'clock in the morning, the Chicago & Alton Railroad Bridge lost its third pier from the Illinois side of the river and the two spans that rested upon the pier into the river...."the wind blowing a gale, and a train passing over it at the time, moved it from its foundation so silently that it was not discovered until the headlight of a coming train revealed the breach. The strong current of the river sapped the foundation of the pier. It rested on piles and was rip-rapped, but the whole structure was swept away." In early February 1877, the rising Mississippi River and floating ice did damage to the railroad bridge's temporary wooden trestle work causing it to be washed down the river. By the end of February 1877 the temporary wooden trestle work was replaced. The awkward looking wooden trestle work would soon be replaced with an iron span of the most approved style and workmanship. The piers of the bridge "have been so strengthened with rip-rapping that they are now as strong and safe as piers can possibly be made". Immense quantities of heavy rock were thrown around the piers causing the river below the pier to be completely paved. The tow head on the Illinois side of the river was cut down as to give the river a wider channel.. another safeguard against danger to the bridge to keep it from washing out of its piers. The bridge was fully rebuilt in 1898 using the 1873 piers. Several spans were replaced in 1945. The 1873 bridge was built by the Chicago and Alton Railroad. Greg Kluempers: https://greg-kluempers.pixels.com/.../railroad-bridge-at... Photo from 2018 KCS - Louisiana Missouri Bridge Through truss swing railroad bridge over the Mississippi River on Kansas City Southern at Louisiana Open to train traffic History Built 1897-8, Some Spans Replaced 1905 and 1945 Builder - Lassig Bridge & Iron Works of Chicago, Illinois (1897 Construction) Railroads - Chicago & Alton Railroad (C&A) - Illinois Central Railroad (IC) - Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS) Design From west to east: 6-panel Pratt through truss (Built 1898) 17-panel, two-span cantilevered swing through truss (446 feet long, built 1898) 9-panel Camelback Pratt through truss (Built 1897) 8-panel Camelback Pratt through truss (Built 1897) 2- 6-panel Warren through truss with verticals (Buily 1945) 12-panel polygonal Warren through truss with verticals (Built 1945) 2- 6-panel Pratt through truss (Built 1905) Dimensions Length of largest span: 442.0 ft. Total length: 2,054.0 ft. (0.4 mi.) Lisa Ruble: Greg Kluempers all my information is from newspapers at the time. It opened the year I gave in the post. Scott Mulliner shared |
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| One of four photos posted by Mark Hinsdale
What's in a Photo Caption?
Well, four state names, at least in this one. A westbound KANSAS City Southern merchandise train eases across the moveable bridge over the MISSISSIPPI River at LOUISIANA, MISSOURI, on a pleasant March 5, 2020. I got lucky when I passed this way around 2:30 pm, just as the day and afternoon bridge tenders were exchanging shifts. The daytime bridge tender saw me with my camera photographing the impressive bridge structure and kindly let me know this westbound train would be along in a half hour, give or take. l happily hung around to obtain the photos, as the span is only used by a handful of trains each day. This swing bridge was built by Chicago & Alton in 1898, and later served successors Gulf, Mobile & Ohio, Illinois Central Gulf, Chicago, Missouri & Western, Gateway Western, and finally, today, Kansas City Southern.
Mark Hinsdale shared Dennis DeBruler So what other photos did you get of the bridge? I'm of the school of thought that big RR bridges don't need a train on them to be interesting. |
Mark responded with three more photos:
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| 1 I am from that same school. I took a couple. Here is the first picture I took after parking the car and observing the scene from the shoulder. |
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| 2 And another, more straight on view. |
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| 3 And finally, one that included the KCS-BNSF diamond in the immediate left foreground. |
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Lisa Ruble posted The Chicago and Alton Railroad Bridge Until recently, the Kansas City Southern. It is now owned by Canadian Pacific and now called Canadian Pacific Kansas City or CPKC. The railroad bridge crosses the Mississippi River from Pike County Illinois to Louisiana, Missouri. Pike County Illinois can be seen in the distance. Douglas Butler shared Lisa Ruble: C&A RR Swing Bridge Louisiana, MO. |
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| Mark Herren posted Westbound ICG Train 93 crosses the Mississippi River at Louisiana,Missouri on May 4,1985 |
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| Bob Eisthen posted I-VNKC crosses the Mississippi River (and shortly, the ex-CB&Q K-Line) behind KCS 4689. March 14, 2009. |
Robert Daly posted three photos with the comment: "The Alton bridge at Louisiana MO, April 12 2013. The west end of the span has an 1898 date."
Scott Nauert Plans are in the works to replace it with a lift bridge. Parts are next to impossible to come by, and if something goes south when in the wrong position, all hell will break loose.
Robert Daly Thanks for the info. I didn't know the line has enough traffic to justify a new bridge.
Scott Nauert KCS just put a ton of money into this RR, including new signal systems, new rail, ties, etc. Bartlett Grain recently opened a monster grain load out near Jacksonville, IL, adding to the daily count. Other major grain terminals are served further west, and the amount of revenue generated is quite significant.
Brian Weber Will they be replacing the entire structure, or just the movable span?
Scott Nauert Whole thing I was told.
Doug Hefty Looks very similar to the Crescent bridge up in the Quad Cities where I worked back in the 90's. It also has an 1898 builders plate.
Lindsey Fowler I puttered my motorcar across that bridge.. I don't know how many times I've been across it. There is a signal to the interlocker to the old BN on the Illinois side I had to take care of.. It's scary going across that River with no guard rails and the wind blowing 45 miles an hour steady .. we also maintained the interlocks and relays for the bridge .. that meant climbing down on the pier on both sides of the swing spand with no guardrail. As young as I was it was exciting, but I didn't care to do it much after the first time.
Doug Hefty I know what you mean about the wind! There were a few times walking out to the swing span on the Crescent bridge I thought I was going to get blown right off the planks we walked on between the rails to get out there!! We had to walk 3 span-lengths from the IL side.
Scott Nauert Plans are in the works to replace it with a lift bridge. Parts are next to impossible to come by, and if something goes south when in the wrong position, all hell will break loose.
Robert Daly Thanks for the info. I didn't know the line has enough traffic to justify a new bridge.
Scott Nauert KCS just put a ton of money into this RR, including new signal systems, new rail, ties, etc. Bartlett Grain recently opened a monster grain load out near Jacksonville, IL, adding to the daily count. Other major grain terminals are served further west, and the amount of revenue generated is quite significant.
Brian Weber Will they be replacing the entire structure, or just the movable span?
Scott Nauert Whole thing I was told.
Doug Hefty Looks very similar to the Crescent bridge up in the Quad Cities where I worked back in the 90's. It also has an 1898 builders plate.
Lindsey Fowler I puttered my motorcar across that bridge.. I don't know how many times I've been across it. There is a signal to the interlocker to the old BN on the Illinois side I had to take care of.. It's scary going across that River with no guard rails and the wind blowing 45 miles an hour steady .. we also maintained the interlocks and relays for the bridge .. that meant climbing down on the pier on both sides of the swing spand with no guardrail. As young as I was it was exciting, but I didn't care to do it much after the first time.
Doug Hefty I know what you mean about the wind! There were a few times walking out to the swing span on the Crescent bridge I thought I was going to get blown right off the planks we walked on between the rails to get out there!! We had to walk 3 span-lengths from the IL side.
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| 1 of 59 photos posted by Michael Parker. M-VNKC Louisiana MO [This is also a closer view of the tow in the background.] |
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| Mary Lindsay posted ‘Swing’ train bridge, Louisiana, Mo. |
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| We Work the Waterways posted Captain John Vaughn of Marquette Transportation Company's M/V THERESA L. WOOD looks at a calming sunset while navigating the Louisiana Railroad Bridge. The bridge runs from Louisiana, Missouri to Pike County, Illinois at Mile 282 on the Upper Mississippi River, about 100 miles above St. Louis. James Ayers: It looks like you are coming up on The Louisiana Railroad Bridge. Ine of the oldest bridges on the Mississippi River. Built in 1898 and was a Turnstile Bridge. Used to be "Man" powered until upgraded. |
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| 7:11 video @ 2:14, Ted Dicus, "Louisiana Railroad bridge Southbound." |
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| 7:11 video @ 4:32, Ted Dicus, "Louisiana Railroad bridge Southbound." |
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| 7:11 video @ 5:57, Ted Dicus, "Louisiana Railroad bridge Southbound." |
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