2008: (Satellite)
When I was a kid, my family used to go up IN-327 most Saturdays to visit my grandparents. I remember this bridge because I think it was "paved" with wood planks back then (1950s and 60s). And the approaches had a sharp angle. Furthermore, the roadbed had the same sharp bend between the approach spans and the main span that the sidewalks still had when Nathan Holth took this photo. The front of the the car would jerk downwards as it drove onto the main span and then again as it drove off. Riding along in the backseat, that bridge would creep me out every time we crossed it because of the rattling wood planks and the car jerking downwards. It struck me when I was older that a long straight truck might hit the bridge when their front wheels drop down.
AFT = American Freedom Train
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| InDOT via HistoricBridges |
This bridge has been on my mind since I started writing this blog. Seeing it depicted in this mural motivated me to pursue it.
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| 1 of 10 photos posted by Visit DeKalb County [The artist is standing in front of his mural of the American Freedom Train.] It was a windy and chilly day last Saturday, but everyone involved with the Corunna Volunteer Fire Department Mural all gathered to admire the finished art piece off Highway 6 in Corunna, Indiana. Ricco Diamante, the mural artist, met with everyone to discuss the finished piece, the process and how much thermal underwear it took when being on top of a scissor lift off the highway at night. Answer: a lot! Finished Mural on 10-11-2022 on Corunna Volunteer Fire Department 1111 US-6, Corunna, IN 46730 "This mural is a tribute to the town’s celebration of USA’s 200th anniversary, which took place in 1976. At that time the Freedom Train passed through the center of town. The Corunna bridge was later uniquely painted with a patriotic red, white, and blue theme. Corunna’s history is centered around the Norfolk and Southern rail line and the historic highway U.S. 6, once known as the longest highway in the country. Railroads and highways connect communities both economically and culturally. Bridges in art symbolizes union, progress, connections, and stability. I decided to paint the Freedom train in this Corunna Bridge Mural because more than 7 million Americans visited the train during its 48 state tour, while millions more stood trackside to see it go by. The train itself consisted of 10 display cars. They carried more than 500 treasures of Americana, including George Washington's copy of the Constitution, the original Louisiana Purchase, Judy Garland's dress from The Wizard of Oz, Joe Frazier's boxing trunks, Martin Luther King Jr.'s pulpit and robes, replicas of Jesse Owens' four Olympic gold medals, a pair of Wilt Chamberlain's basketball shoes, and a rock from the Moon. Thank you to the Corunna mural committee. The Corunna Town Board, Corunna Fire Department, The Dekalb County Visitors Bureau. MacAllister Rentals, and Sherwin-Williams Paint." - Ricco Diamante Cody Lewis Wittenmyer V: It is absolutely beautiful! That being said, the painters used the wrong American Freedom Train locomotive that went through the area. The one that went through was Reading Railroad 2101, a 4-8-4 T1 type. It now resides at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. |
It would be hard for westbound travellers on US-6 to miss the mural.
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| Street View |
When I was a kid, my family used to go up IN-327 most Saturdays to visit my grandparents. I remember this bridge because I think it was "paved" with wood planks back then (1950s and 60s). And the approaches had a sharp angle. Furthermore, the roadbed had the same sharp bend between the approach spans and the main span that the sidewalks still had when Nathan Holth took this photo. The front of the the car would jerk downwards as it drove onto the main span and then again as it drove off. Riding along in the backseat, that bridge would creep me out every time we crossed it because of the rattling wood planks and the car jerking downwards. It struck me when I was older that a long straight truck might hit the bridge when their front wheels drop down.
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| Photo #14 |
After I-69 was built, we quit using that part of IN-327. Thus I never saw it after the 1978 rehabilitation. I see from this photo that they rounded off the junction between the approach span and the main span. This photo also shows what Nathan called the "Most Unique Paint Job."
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| BridgeHunter |
I see that the 2008 bridge has approaches that are a whole block long so that the curve at the top of the approaches is much more gentle. I presume that 18-wheelers can safely go over this bridge.
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| Street View |
Since the bridge wasn't replaced until the 21st Century, we can use Google Earth to get a "before" image. One can see that the approaches were so short they barely went past the edges of the railroad cut. (I also captured that this town uses lagoons for water reclamation. Fortunately, a contemporary satellite image shows that they are now keeping the algae off the ponds.)
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| Google Earth, Jul 2006 |
I also included the road in the upper-left corner because that was something else I remembered about these trips. Note that IN-327 north of Corunna ends at US-6. You had to turn West and go just a few blocks and then turn North again. I happened to notice that IN-327 has another "jog" just south of Helmer. I wondered why this road had these sharp 90-degree turns that really slow you down. I finally learned that it was because the earth is a sphere. A township is supposed to be six miles on each side. Because of the curvature of the earth, the top part of a township is shorter than the bottom part. So the surveor moves the side of the next township up so that the width is back to six miles. And IN-327 was built along the township boundaries in this area. Zooming out the satellite map, I see IN-327 also has a jog south of Corunna so that it is further west than Garrett, IN.
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| Satellite |
The railroad through Corunna was the NYC mainline between Chicago and New York. This location used to have track pans for the NYC. [Eric Zerkle comment on a post. That comment seems to have been deleted. But not because it wasn't true. A comment by wabash2800 in trains confirms there were track pans near here. And wabash2800 in trainorders states that they were about a mile west of the bridge. (Trainorders also has a photo of the Purina Chow feedmill that used to be west of the bridge.)]
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| Dennis DeBruler |
In fact, while confirming Eric's comment, I found this photo.
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| ogrforum A little more information on the history and operation of track pans can be found here... www.jimquest.com/writ/trains/pans/Track_Pans.pdf "Photo of Track Pans on the former NYC at Corunna, Indiana taken just after they were installed in 1906/7." |
Because of the shadow, we can clearly see where the grain elevator was. The building west of it was the depot.
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| EarthExplorer: Nov 28, 1951 @ 28,400, AR1PJ0000040151 |
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