C&NW Bridges over Kinnicknnic River in Milwaukee, WI

Northern KK Bridge, UP/C&NW: (Bridge Hunter; 3D Satellite)
Southern KK Bridge, Lost/UP/C&NW: (Satellite, you can see the slant of the bridge abutments because the track crossed the river on an angle.)

This is a view of the southern bridge. I notice that C&NW used double-lattice trusses for its swing spans in Milwaukee. There is a another abandoned C&NW double-lattice swing bridge a little further north over the Milwaukee River. And duplicate notes for the Northern KK Bridge.

Greg Mross posted
The CNW had 2 bridges over the KK river in Milwaukee, WI. Both were double tracked at one time and saw a lot of trains. Traffic had declined significantly on both bridges when I took this image of the Madison Division bridge in April of 1986. This line was abandoned soon after and the bridge demolished in 1996. The other bridge still exists but hosts only a few trains a week.
Rich Peters A friend of mine worked as a bridge tender and all of these bridges. Not enough work on one bridge for just one guy. He handled all of them.
Bart Culbertson The bridge house caught on fire in the late 80s when I got the territory from Proviso to Milwaukee and up to Escanaba . I recall that the bridge was removed very shortly after I got that territory as Bridge Supervisor. Traffic was routed over the Milwaukee bridge.

The northern bridge is still standing.

Street View

I put a blue rectangle around the existing UP/C&NW bridge and a yellow rectangle around the Lost/C&NW bridge. For completeness, I added a green rectangle around the Trail/UP/C&NW Bridge over the Milwaukee River. I also include the entire C&NW branch that used the southern bridge including the roundhouse at its southern end.

1958 Milwaukee and Glendale Quadrangles @ 1:24,000

MoW: Yard Track Cleaner

Ben Stalvey posted
Seen this neat piece of equipment in Green Bay WI. Couldn't get closer to it for better pictures.
Dell Cobb Kershaw yard cleaner. Has a broom under it like a ballast regulator, but it sweeps everything onto a bucket chain that dumps onto a conveyor belt. You normally hook onto a gondola or hopper car and load the railcar, but you can also slew the conveyor to one side and either load dump trucks or just leave it in a windrow to be picked up by a loader. We have one that's a bit older than the one in the picture. Works great for cleaning the tracks at mines, quarries, and power plants.

Dell Cobb commented on Ben's post

Dell Cobb commented on Ben's post

Dell Cobb commented on Ben's post

Dell Cobb commented on Ben's post

1919 Staley Pump House in Decatur, IL

If you are here because you followed a link concerning an IC bridge, then you need to go

here.

This post was redundant, and it has been "recycled."

(3D Satellite)

Hearald-Review Photo Gallery
[When it was built in 1919, there must have already been plans made to build the Lake Decatur Dam because the lower part is obviously designed to accommodate being flooded.]

This pump house was built in 1919 to provide water for the A. E. Staley Manufacturing Co. Google Maps shows the plant is now owned by ADM Bioproducts. When built, the first floor was the pump house and the second floor was a "clubhouse." It hosted weddings, dances and parties from the 1920s to the 1980s."  [Hearald-Review-tour, photo caption] But Tate & Lyle, who obtained ownership of the pump house when they bought A. E. Staley, has not used the building. They now claim it is rotten enough that they need to tear it down. But they have to pay for the remediation of asbestos and lead paint even if they tear it down. So why not restore an event space to an event space? Bret Robertson has asked the same question. But his efforts to try to save it are being dismissed by the mayor as well as Tate & Lyle.

I wonder were attendees for the clubhouse events in the past parked. I noticed on a satellite image that the building seems to be isolated, and that is one of the arguments given for not saving it. (Mar 2024 Update: a comment explains that US-36 used to be just two lanes and their was a parking lot next to the road. When I accessed the satellite link below, it appears that the pump house is gone.)

Once again, I save a satellite image while I can still get one.

Satellite

Satellite

John Stokes posted eighteen photos with the comment: "Lake Decatur Illinois."

1

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3, cropped

4, cropped
[I thought this photo was redundant, but then I noticed the birds flying away.]

5

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Street View

B&OCT and IHB Whiting Yards

B&OCT Whiting Yard: (Satellite)
IHB Whiting Yard: (Satellite)

Dennis DeBruler posted two images with the comment:

What was the name of the B&OCT yard shown in red on the first map? The reason I ask is that I noticed on a 1960 Whiting Quadrangle @ 1:24,000 that there used to be a roundhouse south of 121st Street along this yard. And because, according to a satellite image, some of the tracks still exist and handle tank cars for the BP refinery. The historic aerials web site does not show the roundhouse in a 1959 image, but it does show it in a 1952 image.

David Hersrud I believe that was called EAST CHICAGO YARD?
Andre Kristopans East Chicago Yard is the one on the east-west line south of there. This is Whiting Yard.

1
[Note the green yard a little further East is IHB's Whiting Yard.]

2

Abandoned/Continental C House and C-T-C #1/Steelton Laker

(see below for satellite image)

This freighter allided with the Port Robinson Bridge on the Welland Canal.

The elevator on the other side of the slip stores Lime Silica.

The owner of the freighter pays $75,000 in annual storage fees. It has been docked there since 1982. The port authority wants to remove this elevator, but it would cost $17m. Fixing the dock at the mouth of the Calumet River has higher priority for any funds that they can get. [Chicago Tribune, Aug 27, 2023, p17]

Continental used to lease this elevator as well as the former Glidden Elevator. This one was referred to as House C and the other one was House B. The other one is still operational, but this one has been abandoned since Continental allowed their lease to expire. I've noticed that most Seaway ships are now loaded in Toledo, OH at ADM, Andersons, and Cargill, which is operated by Andersons.

1990s photo provided by Greg White

I saved the satellite image because the Laker is supposed to be towed away for scrapping in 2020.

3D Satellite
[The two marine unloaders are still intact.]

The freighter was used a supplementary storage.

Fred Miller II posted
CTC #1, at South Chicago, 1988, while still being used as a storage hull, the former STEELTON, also sailed in 1979 as PIONEER for Cleveland Cliffs.
Kyle Herdman: Jacob Northup she was sold for scrap a couple of years ago. Somehow, she’s still there.
John Philbin: Probably too ripe to get USCG approval to tow her to a scrapyard.

The grain elevator is owned by the Illinois International Port.

3D Satellite

The Laker was built in 1942 as one of 16 war time iron ore freighters. "The ship continued to ferry bulk materials around the Great Lakes until 1980, when it was converted into a cement storage facility, a job it stopped doing in 2009." [WBEZ]

What appears to be a self-unloading boom on C-T-C #1 is rather short. Grain freighters don't need a long boom because they unload into a hopper on the side of a grain elevator. But this boat was never used for grain. Its last function was cement storage and transfer. [Boatnerd]

John Jacob, Oct 2019, cropped
Willie Gettit posted
Justin Olsen: I don’t think the engine has been removed.
Richard Jenkins: Justin Olsen the engine is still in place, but heavily stripped for parts to keep some of her sisters going during the 1980s and early 90s.
Bernie Phillip Lomack: 1943. Wow she’s one old gal !!!
Kyle Herdman: Back in 2019, the Chicago Tribune wrote that it was supposed to be towed to scrap…never happened, obviously.
Here is the article: https://www.chicagotribune.com/.../ct-port-of-chicago...
Rob Boal: this was the steelton that knocked down the bridge in thorold

Chicago Woodsman, Oct 2018, cropped
[I question if this is the same ship. 1) I thought the freighter at the grain elevator has been there for years. 2) It doesn't have enough rust. 3) It still has quite a bit of equipment on top of the bridge.]

The freighter is getting some attention because it is supposed to be scrapped in 2020. I thought about driving there to get my own photos. But the circles of barb wire on top of the fence confirms my theory that it is not worth the drive because I won't be able to get very close to it.

safe_image for NWItimes (source)

Gabriel Stokes posted
This is a borrowed photo, (haven't been up by here in a while, sorry!) But I just recently read the story of the Frank Purnell, aka CTC 1, the old lake ship rusting in Lake Calumet, at the Port of Chicago. I had seen it when I worked on the river, but didn't know the story until recently. Any newer pictures would be appreciated!
Pete DePaoli It's to be scrapped next year, estimates say itll bring about 600k for scrap metal.
Chris Nighswonger Audio interview says too much asbestos to make money on scrapping.
Ronald Joseph James I have a video of it on my YouTube page @SocialWreckUrbEx

Ronald Joseph James commented on Gabriel's post

David Bernicky commented on a post

Ronald Joseph James commented on Gabriel's post

Ronald Joseph James commented on Gabriel's post

Andrew Ricci posted, cropped
Some of you may recognize these silos, that laker has been there since 1985, I read somewhere it is inrepairable, and plans to scrap it some day.
Dennis DeBruler: That is the first time I've seen the date 1985. Thanks for the info. https://goo.gl/maps/LZUiGovHMfm6zVE28
Andrew Ricci: Dennis DeBruler just found out been mored there since 1982
Rick Drew: From what I read, it was gutted and used as basically as a barge - it was supposed to have been moved and scrapped last year [2021].

 

Marine Historical Society of Detroit posted
Cement Transit Company's C.T.C. No. 1 seen in Lake Calumet shortly after conversion to a stationary cement storage barge.  Peter Worden collection/MHSD.
Association for Great Lakes Maritime History shared

Launched in May 1943, what would C.T.C. No. 1 was built at Rouge River, Mich. by the Great Lakes Engineering Works for the U.S. Maritime Commission. The 621-foot vessel (LOA) was constructed as a bulk freighter.

Originally named McIntyre, the ship was renamed Frank Purnell when it was delivered to the Interlake Steamship Co. of Cleveland, Ohio later in 1943. The vessel was one of three new vessels that were acquired by the shipping line by trading in seven older vessels as part of the purchase price. 

In 1965, the freighter was traded to Bethlehem Transportation Co. of Cleveland and renamed the Steelton (IV). The Manitowoc Shipbuilding Corp. converted its boilers from coal-fired to oil-fired at its shipyard in Manitowoc, Wis. in 1971. 

The vessel collided with the Welland Canal’s Bridge 12 at Port Robinson, Ont. on Aug. 25, 1974. The canal was then closed to vessel traffic for 15 days due to the collision. The ship was repaired, and its pilothouse rebuilt at Port Colborne, Ont. by Herb Fraser & Associates. 

In 1978, the freighter was sold to the Medusa Portland Cement Co. and renamed Hull No. 3. Plans to convert it into a self-unloading vessel were announced but never realized. In July 1979, the vessel was chartered to the Cleveland-Cliffs Steamship Co. and renamed the Pioneer (III). 

The ship was laid up in Toledo, Ohio at the end of the 1979 sailing season and never operated again. In November 1981, it was sold to the Cement Transit Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, a subsidiary of Medusa Portland Cement.

The vessel was then towed to Sturgeon Bay, Wis. where cement handling equipment was installed onboard by Bay Shipbuilding during the winter of 1981-1982. After the work was completed, it was renamed C.T.C. No. 1 and towed to South Chicago, Ill. in 1982.

Once there, the C.T.C. No. 1 was used as a dockside cement transfer and storage facility. In 1999, it was sold to Southdown Inc. of Houston, Texas. The vessel was acquired by Wilmington Trust of Wilmington, Del. in 2000. After both transactions, it remained in South Chicago.

In 2005, the vessel was sold to St. Marys Cement U.S. of Detroit, Mich. It was purchased by the Grand Navigation Co. of Avon Lake, Ohio, a subsidiary of Lower Lakes Towing Ltd. in 2011. In 2019, the C.T.C. No. 1 was reportedly to be soon sold for scrap but was still at South Chicago in 2022. 

Information Sources:

https://greatlakeships.org/3704517/data

https://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/item/440145

https://greatlakesships.wordpress.com/frank-purnell-2/

https://www.greatlakesvesselhistory.com/histories-by-name/p/purnell-frank-1

https://apnews.com/general-news-34163b70f0e849b889609770f529dd8f

idaillinois photo showing two ships at each elevator.  A photo of just this elevator  There are other 1960 photos of Port District at Lake Calumet such as a ship handling barrels. No wonder containers made the St. Lawrence Seaway obsolete.

Cascade Street Hydro Dam in Parry Sound, ON

(Satellite)

While looking at a satellite map for the location of the Canadian Pacific trestle in Parry Sound, ON, I spotted this dam. The concrete in the dam is in such bad shape that I decided to research it further. Also, the gates are just flood boards and a sluice gate. Bracebridge Generation built hydrodams in various communities in Ontario. This powerhouse by Cascade Street was built in 1919 with a capacity of 1.2mw.

BG-history, cropped

In 2017, a new C$17m powerhouse that can generate 3.1mw became operational. [WaterCanada] C$17m is USS$13.8m. "Ontario has about 8,800 MW of installed hydroelectric capacity." 23% of the generating capacity in Ontario is hydroelectric. [HydroReview]

BG-watershed

I saved the 2013 Street View below because hopefully the upgrade included repairs to the dam and this image will change. It will be interesting to see when Google updates the street view so that I can check the dam again.

Street View, Sep 2013

1908,2018 CPR Parry Sound Trestle over Seguin River in Parry Sound, ON

(Historic Bridges; Satellite)

"It is the longest rail trestle east of the Rocky Mountains. Today the trestle provides westbound rail traffic for both the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Canadian National Railway while all eastbound traffic uses Canadian National trackage." [DowntownParrySound]

C Hanchey Flickr, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 
"The trestle is 1,695 feet (517 m) long and 105 feet (32 m) high."

Street View, Aug 2018

Street View, Oct 2022

 

I Love Trains posted [See the whole video below.]
The Parry Sound Trestle is the longest rail trestle east of the Rocky Mountains! https://trainfanatics.com/cn-engineer-is-not-afraid-of-heights-on-the-parry-sound-trestle/
It is 105' in the air and 1695' long.
Andrew D Woolner: Lethbridge High Level bridge/trestle is 5,327 long and 314 feet high. Battle River bridge is 2775 feet long and 195 feet high and both east of the Rockies…….
The High Level Bridge in Edmonton which is 2,549 ft in length and 156 feet high, not used by the CPR anymore but the Edmonton Radial Railway still uses it.

Historic Bridges, photo by Ian Graham

 

C Hanchey Flickr, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 

David Brook posted
Parry Sound; home of the arguably most famous bridge in Ontario.
Amy Brook Why is it famous?
David Brook Tom Thompson painted it in 1914, as it was being built, but with views available from the adjacent fire tower (still open to the public), it's kind of an icon to anyone in Ontario (and further) who likes trains. It's easy to see, but trains kind of leap out of the woods and just hang there. And when you imagine in winter in the days of steam....it's a special place.
Bill Neill shared

From what I can tell, Tom Thompson did a painting of a mill that included part of the bridge rather than a painting of the bridge.

I noticed that the other railroad going through this town looped upstream so that they could use a shorter and lower bridge to cross the river. Another bridge was a former CP and CN bridge that was abandoned in 1984. It has been converted to a trail.

(new window)


So why did the above freight train cross the bridge so much faster than the passenger train in the video below? Does the passenger train make a station stop in Parry Sound? Yep, we see it stop at the end of the video at a Via station. It probably enters the bridge slowly to minimize the forces on the bridge that would be generated by slowing down a fast moving train for the station stop. This train is incredibly long by Amtrak standards. The California Zephyr I rode on during the Thanksgiving holiday had just nine cars: crew car, 3 sleepers, dining car, lounge car, and 3 coaches.

(new window)


A view of the upstream side of the trestle that includes the smaller bridge in the foreground.
(new window)  It's interesting that CP mixes manifest freight with intermodal traffic.

2:14 video @ 0:36

0:22 video