Western Avenue Bridge over the 60' Cal Sag Channel

(Satellite, it used to connect Old Western Avenue)

Between 1911-22 a 60' Cal Sag Channel was dug to reverse the flow of the Calumet River. What we see today was the result of widening that channel in the 1960s.

MWRD posted
The original Western Avenue bridge over the Cal-Sag Channel on June 20, 1921, viewed looking north towards what is now Old Western Avenue in Blue Island.
MWRD posted, same comment

MWRD posted
Bridges over the Cal-Sag Channel on March 16, 1917, viewed looking north towards what is now Old Western Avenue in Blue Island, Illinois.

MWRD posted
Workers in action on the original Western Avenue Bridge over the Cal-Sag Channel on June 16, 1921, viewed looking north towards what is now Old Western Avenue in Blue Island, Illinois.

Dennis DeBruler commented on the MWRD post
This 1938 aerial shows that this bridge was west of the Rock Island bridge. In fact, an abutment for the Rock Island overpass is in the lower-right corner of the photo.

When they widened the channel to 120', they moved Western Avenue further east.

Satellite

Michael Brandt posted
A great areal shot of Western Ave in Blue Island going over the Cal Sag. A nice view of Old Western Ave too, I believe Jebens Hardware is also in the picture.
[And a nice view of the Metra/Rock Island Bridges.]

1950 NS/N&W Elkhorn Tunnel

(Bridge Hunter, Satellite: West Portal, East Portal)

Norfolk Southern Corp posted

It’s Throwback Thursday! This January 1948 Norfolk and Western Magazine cover documents the building of a new 7,110 foot double-track tunnel through Flat Top Mountain, west of Bluefield, W.Va.

The huge mobile scaffold used to help with blasting and drilling was nicknamed “Jumbo.” The structure could hold 35 workers and was equipped with 15 power drills. Crews excavated about ten feet of the mountain daily, eventually moving 1,400,000 tons of earth and rock. N&W lined the tunnel with steel and concrete for safety.

The new Elkhorn Tunnel was placed in service on June 26, 1950, and replaced a single-track tunnel constructed in 1887.
Norfolk Southern has served the freight transportation needs of America for nearly two centuries. The railroad’s 19,500 route miles and 158 tunnels connect businesses and communities to the marketplaces of the world.
[The comments agree that this is the west entrance.]

RailPictures photo of N&W heritage locomotive helping to shove an eastbound coal drag into the tunnel. It appears N&W used the same color positional signal heads that I associate with the B&O.

Pinterest
First train through Elkhorn Tunnel in West Virginia. 1950.

Aaron Bryant posted
8085 along with 8103 N&W heritage, roll down the Elkhorn grade, as they exit the west portal of Elkhorn Tunnel. The power is leading a manifest train, toward Portsmouth, Ohio. The old fan that removed smoke from the tunnel can be seen beside of the lead unit. It's a bit of a hike, but access to this location can be obtained without trespassing, if you take a long walk through the woods and over the tunnel itself.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Aaron's post
It looks like the West Portal.
37°20'58.0"N 81°21'10.6"W
Aaron Bryant: Dennis DeBruler Yes, that is it.

 

Stanley Short posted
A helper locomotive shoves an eastbound Norfolk Southern unit coal train through Elkhorn Tunnel near Maybeury, WV on May 14, 1994 with C30-7 No. 8062 and SD40-2's No's. 3327 and 1638. Fan houses on tunnels have always fascinated me and I would always have to check them out up close and personal. This was no exception. Photo by Stan Short.
Mason Cooper: That is a Churchill-Wentworth tunnel clearance system. You will notice the bore is tapered in from the portal. Metal sheathing once extended into the tunnel along the edges and the air forced between the sheeting and the tunnel walls. This created a low pressure area ahead of the locomotive actually sucking the smoke ahead of the engine. Used on N&W and a few other systems. When the diesels came the motors were removed and the rest left behind.
Randall Hampton shared

A Time-Lapse Tour of Calumet River and Lake (Overview)

Start: (3D Satellite)

Finish: (3D Satellite)

A time-lapse view from the tugboat Candace Elise as it travels from the mouth of the Calumet River to the EMESCO Dock on Lake Calumet.

A time-lapse video from BigLift's Happy Ranger as it travels from Carmeuse Lime to Lake Michigan. Judging by the green-roofed building, it started its journey from here.

(new window)  (source)

The crane we see in the video...

Screenshot

...appears to be a owned by EMESCO Dock.

3D Satellite

This timelapse shows the entire river because it leaves the relatively new St. Mary's Cement dock.

Charles Edwards posted
Caroline McKee/Commander outbound the Calumet River today [Sep 23, 2024].
Lloyd Scott Hardin shared

Michael Siola posted 31 photos and maps with the comment:

Barges are the transport of choice on the shallow inland waterways that make up the Calumet River system and the Cal-Sag Channel. They carry millions of tons of heavy bulk cargo annually between the Great Lakes and Illinois River.

In the USA, a standard river barge size is 195 feet by 35 feet and can hold up to 1500 tons of cargo; 62,500 bushels, or 453,500 gallons of liquid products. The typical 15-barge tow is capable of hauling 22,500 tons; 767,500 bushels; or 6,804,000 gallons. Comparing these capacities to other transport modes: One barge has the capacity of 15 jumbo railcars or 58 truck trailers. Transporting cargo by water is still the most cost effective way to ship large amounts of freight over long distances.

Michael Siola shared

Debbie Goodloe: Yep. We moved 12 barges a month between Baton Rouge, LA and Pittsburgh, PA.

[I'm surprised how many of the boats were tugboats instead of towboats. As expected, the towboats had retractable pilothouses.]

Michael Siola posted 22 photos in Nov 2022 of some big freighters and other scenes on the river.

CN Strauss Direct Lift Bridge over Fraser River in Prince George, BC

(Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Street View

Satellite

I remember reading that the BNSF/NP Strauss direct lift bridge over Chambers Bay is the only one left. But when I took another look at what I read, there is an important qualifier: "in the United States." This is the other Strauss direct lift bridge in North America.

Street View

Street View

Chuck-Susan Chin posted five photos with the comment:

"PG Strong" - Our symbol of strength - 106 years and counting.

Robert Sinclair shared

1

2

3

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5

BNSF/CB&Q Apr 20, 2020, derailment between a rock and a hard place

(Satellite)

You can see the path down the hill made by the boulder that slid down onto the tracks.

Roger Kerns Jr. commented on a post

The locomotive that fell over was the second unit.

Dan Mahoney posted

The lead unit did hit the bolder, and it was derailed. But it stayed upright. No one was injured.

Trevor Young commented on a post
Notice how the rail rolled. Not my photo.

Joe Smile commented on a post

Joe Smile commented on a post

The autoracks were empty. That should make cleanup easier. And those cars piling up brought the revenue cars to a more gentle stop.

JR Sampson commented on a post

Joe Smile commented on another post: "They were at train speed. They watched it come down."
Nick Bradbury Joe Smile Wow. Takes electronic/remote monitoring system out of the equation for avoiding this one then.
Joe Smile Nick Bradbury this is the 2nd time in under a year this has happened. Last 1 was 7 miles north. But hit head unit. They weren't as lucky. They at least made it to my house to wait for help. All I got to say is BNSF is amazing. If you have questions pm me on it. Won't put here.
[The other detection method, sending a HyRail track inspector out ahead of the train, would have also missed this boulder.]

Scott Thomason commented on a post
Scott Thomason It was at milepost 192.8ish.
Main 2 was open and running a train about 10:30 this morning and main 1 wasn't far behind.
[Since the derailment happened at about 10:50am, they got the tracks open in about 24 hours. (The timestamp for Scott's comment was just "1d".) I assume they had to run trains at 10mph through here. Nnetheless, they were running. And another work window for a surfacing gang should have them running at track speed.]

3D Satellite

That bluff is so steep, I wondered what it would look like on a topo map. Bethween the "Y" and the "611", there are three 50' contour lines merging into just one for a little stretch.

1956 Dubuque North @ 1:24,000

safe_image for UPDATE: Officials: Train derailment in Grant County caused by boulder; no injuries reported
The derailment occurred at about 10:50am. The unit on its side did leak diesel fuel.

1915 12th Street Trafficway Viaduct in Kansas City

(Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; 3D Satellite)

This bridge goes between Kansas City, KS, and Kansa City, MO.

This viaduct crosses a lot of railroad tracks and climbs up to the top of the river bluff on the Missouri side. The trafficway has two roadways. The top deck is 2,300' long and as a grade of 5.5%. In the 1900s, engineers still had to worry about what a horse&wagon team could do. So the lower deck goes to a road on the side of the bluff so that it has only a 2.5% grade. Remember that reinforced concrete was still rather novel at the beginning of the 20th Century. Because of its two decks and 134' bowstring arch, it pushed the state-of-art for reinforced concrete construction. The form work was significant because 150 of the 200 workers were carpenters. But the work was organized so well that the viaduct was built in just 15 months. [ASCE, ahr-kc] It has been rehabilitated in 1965 and 2006. [BridgeHunter]

I've seen 200' and 150' for the height of the bluff. Since 5.5%*2300 = 126.5, it seems the 150' is more correct. And as I researched, the height went down. "The upper deck measures 2,278 feet and the lower deck is roughly 1,884 feet in length. At its highest point, the bridge measures 118 feet above the valley floor and measures roughly 30 feet wide." And some sources put the completion date as 1914. But it was opened to traffic on March 18, 1915. [NortheastNews]

This bridge was designed by J. A. L. Waddell. I recognize him as the pioneer of the lift bridge design starting with the 1894 Halsted Bridge in Chicago, IL. I was not aware that he also made significant contributions to reinforced concrete designs. And he added a 591' nickel-steel arch to his design repertoire for the 1917 Detroit-Superior Bridge in Cleveland, OH. [ahr-kc]

Street View

Street View

Street View

Street View

Street View

Real Photo Postcard via NortheastNews

ahr-kc

Doug Hitchcock posted
[Doug identifies the roundhouse as B&O/Chicago & Alton.]

Melanie Rowley posted
William W. Dobson shared
William W. DobsonAuthor Alvin Phipps, looks like round house next to bridge.
Alvin Phipps William W. Dobson I think it is the Illinois Central round house it was on that side of bridge and was made like that it was still standing till late 1990 or early 2000. The old Frisco shop was on the other side of the bridge later BN merged with Frisco it is still there now is a lumber yard shop still there. That yard is known as the 19th street yard BNSF is now got they switch down there. We had to go work on the Locos down there.

Doug Hitchcock commented on his post
[This shows the streetcar incline that was replaced by the trafficway. I think those are cable cars so their grade restrictions are not determined by the friction of wheels on rails.]

NS/N&W Hemphilll Tunnels #1 and #2 by Hemphill, WV

#1 (South), 800': (Bridge Hunter; Satellite)
#2 (North), 1200': (Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

(When you Google this topic, you discover that "Hemphill" related tunnels are being built in Fort Worth and Atlanta.)

The Pocahontas Division of Norfolk & Western followed the Tug River into a coal mining region of West Virginia. "In 1903, the railroad started a major rebuilding project to straighten out portions of the Pocahontas Division and prepare for future double tracking. Just a year later, two tunnels were constructed roughly a mile northwest of Welch, known as Hemphill....The realignment shaved off 2.4 miles from the previous wandering Tug Fork route. Double tracking was completed here in 1909." The new alignment was also built higher to avoid flooding. [TheRailroadCollection] The higher alignment also reduced the length of the required tunnels. As you can see on the following satellite image, N&W rather literally drew a straight line and dug the tunnels along the line. It appears that Tug River Road and Wilson Street were the old alignments. The straight line not only goes through hills causing the need for tunnels, it goes over the river causing the need for bridges. These bridges near the ends of the tunnels is why the enlargement of the tunnels for the Heartland Corridor to raise the ceiling rather than lower the tracks.

Satellite

You can clearly see the "notches" made in the two tunnels to create 21' of clearance to accommodate 20'3" high double-stack intermodal trains.

A Lee Stone Photo via TheTunnelDiaries
West Portal of #1 (South Tunnel)

A Lee Stone Photo via TheTunnelDiaries
East Portal of #2 (North Tunnel)

Aaron Bryant posted

We are zoomed out at 300 mm while a short eastbound intermodal exits Hemphill Tunnel #1 in Welch, West Virginia. There's quite a bit of railroad infrastructure condensed into this one small scene, including a slide fence, tunnels, crossover, a bridge, rail greaser, a signal and mile post. The Pocahontas District rarely fails to deliver an interesting day of rail traffic with lots of photogenic locations to choose from. 8/2025

Fred Wolfe Flickr is a photo of the east portal of #1 with the east portal of #2 peaking out in the background.

TheRailroadCollection has a photo of the west portal of #2 with the west portal of #1 peaking out in the background.

3:01 video of train action in these tunnels       At 1:28 he catches the coaling tower.