Ferry: (Bridge Hunter)
1871: (Bridge Hunter)
1884: (Bridge Hunter; 3D Satellite, pier bases for the old bridges under a tree)
1936: (Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; John A. Weeks III; Satellite) Bridge #59The superstructure was rebuilt between 1880-84. No iron was used in the replacement trusses. [BridgeHunter-1884]
"Longest RR bridge in State of Missouri" [Jack Wright comment on BridgeHunter-1936]
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| 1936 ad flyer provided by James Holzmeier via Bridge Hunter |
The green truss in the above street view and in this photo is the Discovery Bridge.
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| Missouri's Historic Highways posted Also, MoDOT via Bridge Hunter |
There is a non-trivial approach viaduct on the west side that is 2,286' long. The east side is even longer at 3,945'. The truss spans total 1,645' with a main span of 624'. The total length of 7,876' is well over a mile. [BridgeHunter-1936]
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| Street View, May 2021 |
I'm glad someone removed the trees.
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| Street View, Apr 2019 |
The levee on the left confirms that the long eastern approach is over a flood plain.
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| Street View, Nov 2022 |
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| John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library Flickr |
The post that motivated this research.
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| Drew Barteau posted NS 8100 (NKP Heritage Unit) Leads NS 125 across the Wabash Pitcairn Bridge in St. Charles, MO. |
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| John Troxler posted NS 099 pulled by NKP 765 rolls over the Missouri River on the NS St. Louis to Kansas City line at St. Charles, MO. The destination of the morning employee special is just west of St. Charles, MO on 9/8/12. I photoshopped the photo to remove Missouri 370 road bridge from the background. |
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| Randy Perkinson posted The Wabash Bridge is a 1936 cantilevered through truss carrying the Norfolk Southern Railway over the Missouri River from St. Louis County on the east to St. Charles County on the west. It replaced an 1871 bridge that was located about 1/2 mile downstream. |
The predecessor crossings
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| 1869 Photo via BridgeHunter-ferry |
Bridge Hunter calls the deck truss a Fink span, and the through truss is called a Trellis span.
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| Image via BridgeHunter-1871 |
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| The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. (1881). St. Charles Bridge. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-8478-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 "1879. Nov. 8, the west trellis span of the bridge gave way while an eastbound livestock train was crossing the bridge. Eighteen cars fell into the river and three men were killed and 4 injured. The railroad concluded it was caused by derailment. The coroner's report pointed out lack of maintenance as indicated by the rotting deck planks." [BridgeHunter-1871] |
You can tell this is the 1884 bridge because there are no Fink spans.
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| Postcard via BridgeHunter-1884 |
Home movie shot in 1930 by the grandfather of Thomas Matlock via BridgeHunter-1884.
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| 1:26 video @ 0:18 |
The pier bases for the older bridges.
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| Street View, Nov 2022 |
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| 1924 Robertson Quad @ 24,000 |
And even more confusing, this 1927 map has already removed the 1884 route even though the new route was not supposed to be operational until 1936.
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| 1927 St Charles Quad @ 62,500 |
And the Wabash route just gets weirder.
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| 1933 St Charles Quad @ 62,500 |
By 1955, it was what we see today.
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| 1954 St Charles Quad @ 62,500 |
Nice Info you got here, also Im the one who took the photo of the NKP over the bridge :). the last 2 maps are weird... the last one isnt accurate at all and it just going off of eye im pretty sure and the 2nd to last one probably is when the 1936 route was being made
ReplyDeleteThanks for capturing that view of the bridge. It inspired me to add a street view of the east approach to these notes.
DeleteI agree that the 1924 and 1927 maps that you are commenting on are weird. I double checked them and added the 1933 and 1954 maps. The 1933 map adds to the weirdness because it shows the route going further south and then back north. These maps are the topo maps from the United States Geological Survey, https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/topoexplorer/index.html, and they are normally more accurate than this.