The original notes that have some C&O history have been
archived.
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| Photo courtesy of the Indiana State Department of Natural Resource, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology |
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| Photo courtesy of the Indiana State Department of Natural Resource, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology |
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Tyler Haack
posted four photos with the comment: "
Old swing bridge near Sohl Avenue in Hammond, Indiana, which was abandoned by Norfolk Southern in the 1980s. Pictures were taken in April of this year.[2018]"
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Bob Lalich's comment explains why the Michigan Central built this bridge:
[The bridge] was part of a short branch line off the MC mainline that tapped into the industries on the north bank of the Grand Calumet River by connecting to the East Chicago Belt RR, which had been financed and built by the MC. The ECB became part of the IHB after the turn of the 20th century. The connection to the MC mainline near its Hammond passenger station was severed sometime after WW2. The IHB continued to use the bridge as a tail track to switch the industries in the vicinity of Sohl Ave and Hoffman St until those industries stopped shipping by rail.
Note that Sohl Avenue does not cross the river back then. And by 1953, Michigan Central had become NYC.
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| 1953 Highland, Calumet Lake and Calumet City Quadrangles @ 1:24,000 |
I got curious about Sohl Avenue. By 1960, it had a bridge to nowhere.
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| 1960 Calumet City Quad @ 1:24,000 |
By 1968, Sohl Avenue was finished and the MC industrial branch was gone. And NYC had become Penn Central.
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| 1968 Calumet City Quad @ 1:24,000 |
The BridgeHunter and Historic Bridges sites are incorrect. This bridge was built and owned by the Michigan Central RR. It was part of a short branch line off the MC mainline that tapped into the industries on the north bank of the Grand Calumet River by connecting to the East Chicago Belt RR, which had been financed and built by the MC. The ECB became part of the IHB after the turn of the 20th century. The connection to the MC mainline near its Hammond passenger station was severed sometime after WW2. The IHB continued to use the bridge as a tail track to switch the industries in the vicinity of Sohl Ave and Hoffman St until those industries stopped shipping by rail.
ReplyDeleteI had written a reply, but I must not have hit publish correctly because I didn't see it.
DeleteI want to be sure to thank you for the correction. It is not often that I have to fix the title and a label as well as the text of a post.