Trail+Aban/UP/C&NW Bridge over Milwaukee River in Milwaukee, WI

(Bridge Hunter, Historic Bridges, Forgotten Places Blog, 3D Satellite)

Bryan Krejcarek posted then and now pictures. His comment is wrong because this is not the KK River bridge. According to the 2005 SPV Map, the KK Bridge is down south where a UP/C&NW connector joins CP+Amtrak/Milw. C&NW used to have a branch that was a half-block west of CP/Milw with its own swing bridge over the Kinnickinnic River.

FlyerScope, last photo

Greg Mross posted
CNW 4333 is crossing the Milwaukee River after finishing switching chores in the 3rd Ward near downtown Milwaukee in April of 1984. The bridge used to host the famous "400" fleet in passenger days when CNW's Lakefront depot was located just north of here. Today, the bridge remains in the open position as there hasn't been any business in the 3rd Ward for many years. The bridge and the land on the east side of the river and now part of a park in this revitalized area of Milwaukee.

Street View

AJ Grigg reports that the right-of-way has been developed as Trestle Park
posted
Eric Jahnke UP owns the swing bridge currently.

This route used to be the mainline of C&NW and it carried 100 trains a day including the Twin Cities 400 passenger trains. The C&NW passenger station served by this mainline is now gone. [Bridge Hunter]

According to DonsDepot, the tower is well maintained because it is now used as an office by another business.

While looking at Google and Bing street views to confirm I have the bridge that Bryan took photos of, I noticed that there are incredibly big (expensive) crossing signals for tracks that no longer exist. Bridge Hunter took a photo of those signals. And I don't see any "exempt" signs on those signals. That means that school buses still have to stop and open their door before proceeding across what is now a concrete strip.

Satellite

The last train that used this bridge was in March, 2006. [Historic Bridges] But I noticed that one set of tracks is still maintained on either side of the bridge and on the bridge. I assume this is so UP can close the bridge and run a Hy-Rail truck over it once a year to maintain an active status. I know UP does this for their Kinzie Street bridge in Chicago. But I have yet to see an explanation as to why UP maintains an active status for a bridge on an abandoned route.

Alex Sansone posted
Cnw bridge over the Milwaukee River from the new park that has been built on the east end.

Gary Lenz posted
C&NW Milwaukee River Swing Bridge. This Truss Bridge was built in 1915. The Bridge is not used anymore and is in the open position for river traffic.

Brandon Steinback commented on Gary's post
Same one? Milwaukee 2018
Gary Lenz Yes - Your picture is looking north, mine is looking south . Nice photo Brandon.

Gary Lenz posted
Circus World Museum Car was spotted near the C&NW Milwaukee River Swing Bridge. Museum Railway Cars were staged here for the Great Circus Parade. Milwaukee , Wisconsin .Photo - 1980's.

Bing Owens posted five images with the comment: "Adventure to Milwaukee, WI today...found this old/abandoned swing bridge that carried the Chicago & Northwestern Railway from Chicago to the C&NW depot in Milwaukee.  Line has long been abandoned and most of the tracks have been torn up.."

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