The Pennsylvania Union (URR) Bridge is just downstream. And it has some more photos that include this bridge.
I see the north end of this route also quickly enters a tunnel.
This bridge replaced an 1872 structure and reused the original piers. It is part of a route that allows through trains to bypass Pittsburgh. Port Perry was such an important railroad town of 3000 people that it no longer exists. Its land has been completely covered by the tracks of NS, CSX (B&O), and the Union Railroad. [pghbridges]
The following two diagrams are from page 22 of the USACE Jan 2004 Monongahela RiverNavigation Charts.
The purple box indicates that the USACE has progressed on their March 1999 plans quoted below but the bridge clearance has not been raised. Judging from Robert's photo, the span has not been replaced as of 2018.
I see the north end of this route also quickly enters a tunnel.
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| 3D Satellite |
This bridge replaced an 1872 structure and reused the original piers. It is part of a route that allows through trains to bypass Pittsburgh. Port Perry was such an important railroad town of 3000 people that it no longer exists. Its land has been completely covered by the tracks of NS, CSX (B&O), and the Union Railroad. [pghbridges]
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| MP Rail Photography posted NS 29G waits on the Port Perry Branch while a coal train passes on the Mon Line. The US Steel Edgar Thompson Works can be seen in the background. May 25, 2024 Pittsburgh, PA Power: NS 4169 - AC44C6M NS 1229 - SD70ACe [The coal train is out-of-frame to the left going along the river.] Dennis DeBruler: In addition to the NS/PRR Port Perry Bridge, the Pennsylvania Union RR (URR) Bridge, the Lock and Dam #2 and the Edgar Thomson (no p) Works, you captured the Grand View Golf Club. This photo helps me better appreciate the hills in the Pittsburgh area. |
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| HAER PA,2-POPER,1--2 |
The following two diagrams are from page 22 of the USACE Jan 2004 Monongahela RiverNavigation Charts.
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| 2 |
The pool change associated with the Lower Mon Project will raise navigable waters in existing Pool 2 five (5) feet, thus reducing the vertical clearance of the bridge to 40.6 feet, making it 1.9 feet lower than the U.S. Coast Guard required vertical guide clearance of 42.5 feet....One option preferred by the Corps would replace span 7 (407-foot span between piers 7 and 8) over the navigation channel with a new span constructed of higher strength steel and a modified truss design to achieve the required vertical clearance without changing the rail grades. This option can be achieved through various plans to either rehabilitate or replace Piers 7 and 8 to handle the additional loads of the new span. [pghbridges, search for "1999"]
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| Jack D. Kuiphoff posted CR, Conrail SD60M #5503, and SD50 #6717 with a westbound stack train, crossing the Monongahela River on the Port Perry bridge at, Duquesne, Pennsylvania. March 11, 1999. Jack D Kuiphoff © photo Roger Riblett shared Herb Wilson: of all the tracks shown in this photo...how many are still there and in use? Jason Minier: Look up DJ's Trains on YouTube. He has several videos covering this spot, and also models it |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Roger's share At least both bridges still have all of their connections. 40°23'15.3"N 79°51'05.9"W |
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| Viral Media posted Conrail SD60M No. 5503 and SD50 No. 6717 lead a westbound stack train out of the tunnel and across the Port Perry bridge over the Monongahela River at Duquesne, Pennsylvania on March 3rd, 1999. Photo Credit to Jack D Kuiphoff. Stan Stanovich: …through the lens of the master Mr Jack D. Kuiphoff!!! |
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| Robert S. Dorsett posted Another Hot Metal bridge is Pennsylvania's Port Perry bridge. Built in 1903, carries Norfolk/ Southern R.R. |
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| Jack D. Kuiphoff posted CR, Conrail SD60M #5503, and SD50 #6717 with a westbound stack train, crossing the Monongahela River on the Port Perry bridge at, Duquesne, Pennsylvania. March 11, 1999. Jack D Kuiphoff © photo Roger Riblett shared Herb Wilson: of all the tracks shown in this photo...how many are still there and in use? Jason Minier: Look up DJ's Trains on YouTube. He has several videos covering this spot, and also models it Jack D. Kuiphoff posted, same comment Randall Hampton shared |
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| Mtnclimberjoe Rail Photography posted Union Railroad and Norfolk Southern trains meet over the waters of the Monongahela River as they each cross their respective bridges [URR is the other one] out of Duquesne, Pennsylvania. Five MP15's from the Union Railroad's Job 66B are taking headroom as they drop cars into the railroad's yard, while Norfolk Southern intermodal train 260 uses the Port Perry Branch to get on the Pittsburgh Line and continue its trip east. ====Info==== 6/8/2024 URR Mon Southern Branch Duquesne, PA URR Job 66B (Coke Empties/ Local; Clairton Coke Works - Clairton, PA to Dexter Yard - East Pittsburgh, PA) URR 31 MP15DC Blt. 1977 URR 18 MP15DC Blt. 1975 URR 26 MP15DC Blt. 1976 URR 17 MP15DC Blt. 1975 URR 34 MP15DC Blt. 1977 NS Port Perry Branch NS 260 (Intermodal; 47th Street Yard - Chicago, IL to GI8 - Harrisburg, PA) NS 4454 AC44C6M Ex. NS 9273 C44-9W, NS 9273 C40-9W Blt. 1999 NS 9733 C44-9W Ex. NS 9733 C40-9W Blt. 2001 |
Wow. He again caught trains on both bridges.
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| Mtnclimberjoe Rail Photography posted A pair of Union Railroad jobs meet on the bridge over the Monongahela River in Duquesne, Pennsylvania as Job 9B brings loaded slab gons south to the yard and Job 66B brings coke empties and misc freight north. In the background, Norfolk Southern 260 heads east on the Port Perry Branch bridge. ====Info==== 6/8/2024 URR Mon-Southern Branch Duquesne, PA URR Job 9B (Local; Duquesne, PA to Edgar Thomson Works - Braddock, PA Turn) URR 19 MP15DC Blt. 1975 URR 11 MP15DC Blt. 1974 URR Job 66B (Coke Empties/ Local; Clairton Coke Works - Clairton, PA to Dexter Yard - East Pittsburgh, PA) URR 31 MP15DC Blt. 1977 URR 18 MP15DC Blt. 1975 URR 26 MP15DC Blt. 1976 URR 17 MP15DC Blt. 1975 URR 34 MP15DC Blt. 1977 |
Big Boy 2026:
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| Worldwide Railfan Productions posted Union Pacific Big Boy Crosses Port Perry Bridge The Union Pacific Big Boy crosses over the Port Perry Bridge near Duquense, PA Location: Duquense, PA By: Brandon Fiume Taken on: July 11, 2026 |
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| Facebook Reel A longer version of the same video |
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| AltoonaWorks posted 7/11/2026 - One of my favorites from Saturday's Big Boy run to Conway Yard. The Union RR posed engines and a caboose as 4014 crosses the Port Perry Branch. AltoonaWorks.info |
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| Joey Freeman commented on the above post Caught him in Leetsdale, PA |
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| Alfred Rose commented on the above post |
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| The Wheeling posted We wanted to share this photo made possible by URR Senior Trainmaster Robert Shook of the Union Pacific's Big Boy crossing the Monongahela River, with a set of Union Railroad switcher locomotives and caboose posed up for a meet! Railroads have long been associated with the history of America, and while UP's Big Boy was put to work hauling vital materials during World War II, the Union Railroad was a major origin point where raw iron ore was finished into steel to supply the war effort. |
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| Advanced Approach Photography posted Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 swings around the wye and under the Union Railroad as it comes off the Port Perry Bridge near Duquense, PA on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. I’m still in disbelief that this is something that actually happened and that I witnessed with my own eyes. 10 years ago it was a pipe dream that one of Union Pacific’s 4-8-8-4 Big Boy locomotives would ever run again, let alone along the former PRR mainline through the mountains of Western Pennsylvania. |
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