Michigan Central's Sohl Avenue Bridge over Grand Calumet River in Hammond, IN

(Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; John Marvig; Satellite)

Pete Fileca commented on his post

Some comments on Pete's post taught me about this bridge: Steven Cobb mentioned its existence; Bob Lalich indicated it was a former Michigan Central bridge; and I indicated with this topo map  that it was a branch that went north from the MC mainline

Dennis DeBruler commented on Pete's post
Bob Lalich, thanks for the Michigan Central info. It looks like it is a branch that goes north of their mainline. But it is not clear where the branch went once it crossed the river. This image is a combination of the 1960 Calumet City and Lake Calumet 1:24,000 quadrangles. All three bridge reference sites --- Bridge Hunter, Historic Bridges and John Marvig --- indicate the railroad was Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville Railway. But some research indicates that railroad is what C&O used to gain access to Chicago. The C&O shared the NKP bridge with Erie, which was further west of here. It is now a NS crossing, but today it is just a culvert with four big pipes, https://www.google.com/.../@41.6257646,-87.../data=!3m1!1e3
Pete Fileca Dennis DeBruler it supposedly branched into the ihb
Bob Lalich Dennis DeBruler - The MC was a financial backer of the East Chicago Belt RR and built the line which ran from Grasselli to State Line Tower along the north side of the Grand Calumet River. The ECB served the numerous industries that located along the north bank of the river during the industrial boom in the late 1800s. The MC connected to the ECB via the swing bridge next to Sohl Ave. The ECB was incorporated into the IHB in a reorganization in the early 20th century. Sometime afterward, the connection to the MC mainline near the Hammond Station was eliminated, but the bridge remained in use as a tail track to switch the industries in the immediate area.
Lawrence Smith r we talking about the Hammond Belt RR? https://books.google.com/books?id=kUTYBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA57...

Steven Cobb commented on Pete's post

Both Steven and Pete have added several more photos of the MC line as comments.

Tyler Haack posted
An abandoned railroad swing bridge, in Hammond, Indiana.
Bob Gyurko: It will not swing now as the rail to the north is solid. The bridge was manual operated. In the area in the center you will find a domed metal object about 1 foot in diameter with four square holes in the top. These were for handles that fit inside the holes to turn a shaft that that went down to a gear reduction system. This system rotated around a large bull gear around the center pier. Hence a SWING bridge. Armstrong powered!
Tim Shanahan shared

Tyler commented on his post
 Here’s a picture I took of its gears, a few years ago

Haley Nicole Kniola commented on Tyler's post
Went there last week [Oct 2023]

Map provided by Bob Lalich in a private communication
"The map is from the US Army Corp of Engineers dated 1887."

Mar 21, 2022, PM from Bob Lalich:

There is not much out there on the South Chicago & Indiana RR. I found a few Tribune articles which indicate it had ambitions to connect the developing industries around the Calumet River to the trunk lines, but it was never built as such. IC acquired a ROW that SC&I had graded, which became IC's South Chicago Branch. It seems that the MC somehow acquired the Indiana charter of the SC&I and used it to build the branch line to North Hammond and the swing bridge.

9 photos

There are several comments and photos on his post. Of note:

Bob Lalich: The bridge was built by Michigan Central to connect to the East Chicago Belt, of which MC had controlling ownership. The ECB was later incorporated into IHB, and served numerous industries in North Hammond and East Chicago.