There has never been a drawbridge at Memphis and St. Louis is the only place where Southern trains crossed the Mississippi River.
Mark
There ARE NO drawbridges in Memphis or anywhere near Memphis. I've lived here a couple o' hundred years (it seems!) so I probably would have tripped over it by now. I have also ridden the Tennessean to Washington from Memphis: in Decatur, Alabama there is a drawbridge; an infamous one that has caused 18 hour delays to some of the old passenger trains of my youth. One time I saw such a listing on the register book that was kept at Buntyn, TN. When I got a chance to ask the conductor about it, he said it was because of the drawbridge at Decatur being "stuck".
Wherever they exist - Drawbridges are temperamental beasts and if they don't operate properly nobody is going over it until it is repaired.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Yes, I know about that drawbridge in Decatur. Back in '78, I was going from Birmingham to Chicago--and some student? pilot on a tow let the tow hit the bridge. As a result, the southbound Floridian was turned at Nashville, the northbound was turned at Birmingham, and Amtrak had all the passengers board buses to go to Nashville. The buses stopped at a fast food place just outside Birmingham, and we were all treated to a hamburger apiece--though one obnoxious passenger insisted on getting two; the steward or whoever was in charge gave in to shut him up for a while. The next morning the man asked me, while I was eating, what I had had to do to get breakfast in the diner; I probably told him something like "be seated and order." I am not sure he knew what it meant to "be seated."
As to Memphis, I did not know of any draws there or near there, but I let a man who knows the city much better than I respond.
Johnny
Deggesty Yes, I know about that drawbridge in Decatur. Back in '78, I was going from Birmingham to Chicago--and some student? pilot on a tow let the tow hit the bridge. As a result, the southbound Floridian was turned at Nashville, the northbound was turned at Birmingham, and Amtrak had all the passengers board buses to go to Nashville.
Yes, I know about that drawbridge in Decatur. Back in '78, I was going from Birmingham to Chicago--and some student? pilot on a tow let the tow hit the bridge. As a result, the southbound Floridian was turned at Nashville, the northbound was turned at Birmingham, and Amtrak had all the passengers board buses to go to Nashville.
And to this day we have tugboat pilots pushing their barges into railroad bridges. My question, for which I beg pardon for being off-topic:
Why in the world do barge lines push their barge trains instead of pulling them? The difference in difficulty would seem to be the same as between pushing a wet noodle versus pulling it.
dakotafred Deggesty Yes, I know about that drawbridge in Decatur. Back in '78, I was going from Birmingham to Chicago--and some student? pilot on a tow let the tow hit the bridge. As a result, the southbound Floridian was turned at Nashville, the northbound was turned at Birmingham, and Amtrak had all the passengers board buses to go to Nashville. And to this day we have tugboat pilots pushing their barges into railroad bridges. My question, for which I beg pardon for being off-topic: Why in the world do barge lines push their barge trains instead of pulling them? The difference in difficulty would seem to be the same as between pushing a wet noodle versus pulling it.
In navigating a river - you are nominally having all your attention focused ahead of your vessel. Shoving barges you have them in you field of vision at virtually all times. If the vessel is towing the barges, the primary focus of the operator is still ahead of the vessel and special effort must be made to view the operation of the barges + plus should a rear barge break free from the tow - it becomes harder to try to capture the barge(s) that broke away.
Thank you to Balt. I can see the advantage to the barge companies. But, given the relative frequency of bridge mishaps, I question their convenience trumping infrastructure and public safety. Maybe they need a tugboat at either end of the "tow"?
dakotafred Thank you to Balt. I can see the advantage to the barge companies. But, given the relative frequency of bridge mishaps, I question their convenience trumping infrastructure and public safety. Maybe they need a tugboat at either end of the "tow"?
Marine 'distributed power'.
BaltACD dakotafred Thank you to Balt. I can see the advantage to the barge companies. But, given the relative frequency of bridge mishaps, I question their convenience trumping infrastructure and public safety. Maybe they need a tugboat at either end of the "tow"? Marine 'distributed power'.
Excellent, Balt! Now that it has a professional-sounding name, can implementation be far behind?
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