Trackside Guides

nanaimo73 wrote:

FERRY-This run was between the St. Louis & Iron Mountain (later Missouri Pacific) at Belmont, Missouri over to the Mobile and Ohio in Columbus, Kentucky. Ferry service ended on this route during 1911. Terraserver   Googlemap

nanaimo73 wrote:

Memphis - Harahan  The next two bridges are beside each other at Memphis, along with the Interstate 55 bridge. Bridge #52 is the Harahan bridge, the former Arkansas and Memphis Railway Bridge and Terminal Company (Missouri Pacific, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, and St. Louis Southwestern) bridge. This was opened in 1916 and is now used by Union Pacific. To the west the Union Pacific line at Briark Junction splits with the former Missouri Pacific line heading west for Bald Knob and the former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific line (used by Cotton Belt) heads southwest for Brinkley and (formerly) Little Rock. To the east is IC Crossing, where the MP, CRI&P, SSW and SLSF lines met Illinois Central's north-south mainline. This IC line is now Canadian National, and is used by Amtrak's City of New Orleans. Five of the 11 diamonds are still located at IC Junction. Terraserver   WikiMapia    Googlemap   article   article   Bridgehunter   Wikipedia   Photos   Photo   Photos   Photos  61 b/w photos of these bridges can be seen on the following website by searching "mississippi bridge" and going to #14 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/   Passenger- The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific ran passenger trains over Harahan Bridge until November 10, 1967.   Traffic- moderate (40 to 60 GMT) Bridge type- fixed . Memphis - Frisco  Bridge #53 is the Frisco Bridge, opened in May of 1892 for the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis. The KCFS&M became part of the St. Louis-San Francisco. SLSF joined Burlington Northern in 1980 and is now BNSF. The third bridge here is Interstate 55. To the west is Bridge Junction, where the BNSF (SLSF) line crosses over the UP and heads northwest. After 20 miles this line separates at River Junction with one line  going to St. Louis and the other to Springfield. To the east is IC Crossing, which is now a Canadian National mainline used by Amtrak's City of New Orleans.  Terraserver   WikiMapia   Googlemap   article   article   Bridgehunter  ASCE article    Wikipedia   Photo   Photos   Photos  Passenger- The last St. Louis-San Francisco passenger train using the bridge operated on December 9, 1967.  Traffic- heavy (60 to 100 GMT) Bridge type- fixed

Nice pitures, Bob. Thanks for posting them.

Some day I will have to complete my travels, and tour the River south from Dubuque. 

Thanks for the heads up, John.

You have done some pretty good work.

JohnWeeks.Mississippi.headwaters
JohnWeeks.Mississippi.twincities
JohnWeeks.Mississippi.upper
JohnWeeks.Mississippi.lower

JohnWeeks.Missouri.upper

JohnWeeks.home

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This was recently posted on the IC Yahoo Group-

Norco, LA - Friday April 11

West of New Orleans, the Army Corps of Engineers opened the
flood gates of the Bonnet Carrie Spillway today to divert water
from the swollen Mississippi River into Lake Pontchartrain.

Three railroad trestles pass over the spillway - the CN McComb
and Baton Rouge subs, and the KCS New Orleans sub. On any
other day, the spillway is a great area to drive down into to take
pictures of trains. Since the gates have been open, the area,
which is also frequented by many people in various outdoor
activities, is now under several feet or more of water.

The gate opening is a big event in that they've only been opened
several times since the spillway's structure was built in the early
30's. I went out today to take pictures, and DID happen to catch
the first trains to cross the spillway after the noon gate opening.
There are no operational restrictions that I know of for trains
while the gates are open.

Photos:

KCS New Orleans Sub trestle:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1122248

Normally there is a dirt road next to the trestle, but it is now under
water. The gates had only been open about 45 minutes. I came
back a few hours later, and it was noticeably higher. The flood gates
will be open for 2-3 weeks, and eventually the water will be rise
to several feet of the trestle deck.

CN train M31971 was one of the first to cross the spillway about
40 minutes after gate opening. Power on today's train was CN
C40-8M 2429 and CN 5789 SD75I.

CN 2429:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1122249

M31971 making its way across the trestle. *Most of the vegetation
in the photos will be under water within a week:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1122250
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1122252
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1122254

The next across was a CN loaded grain train with BNSF hoppers:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1122255

After leaving the spillway, I ran across Gateway Eastern 2000
GP38-2 stopped next to the KCS yard office in Norco, LA:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1122256
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1122257

Shawn - Amite, LA

I hope the folks at Kalmbach can figure out how to fix this.  This thread and the Iowa Counties thread are my two all-time favorites.

blhanel:

I hope the folks at Kalmbach can figure out how to fix this.  This thread and the Iowa Counties thread are my two all-time favorites.

I have our tech guys looking into why the original post (and all the good info) was cut off during the transfer to the new forum platform.

Erik

I'm happy to report that the first post is back in its entirety.

Bergie