Old Toledo Belt Line Upper Maumee River Bridge

[Fred M Cain]

Back in the late summer of 2005 I required hernia surgery and headed to a clinic on the north side of Toledo from northeastern Indiana.

 

The Ohio Turnpike (OT) crossed a large, expansive viaduct somewhere in the vicinity of southwestern Toledo.  A large and rather long railroad bridge off the north side of the OT caught my eye.  My father, who was always fascinated by bridges anyhow, was with me and commented, “WOW ~ !  That’s some bridge ~ !”

 

I got a better look at the bridge on the way home since we were now on the north side of the highway.  I was saddened to see that there were no tracks on the bridge.  This whole scenario represented a major puzzle to me since I could not make out a right of way on either side of the bridge. 

 

 

Of course, I now know that this was because the rail line that was once there made a sharp turn toward the north and away from the highway on either side of the river.

 

For years the bridge represented a mystery to me.  Over the years, I went through that area several times and admired the bridge and wondered what railroad used this spectacular “ghost bridge”.  Was it perhaps a long gone interurban?  I dismissed that idea since it seemed like it was a much too heavy an investment for a trolley line.

 

On a recent trip to Cleveland, I looked forward to seeing the bridge again but I couldn’t find it.  On the way home as we crossed over the  Maumee River on the OT, it wasn’t there.  So, I began to doubt my memory.  Hmmmn.  Maybe it wasn’t here but on some other water course further west. 

 

 

However, I knew it wasn’t in Indiana so when we crossed the Indiana state line, I realized that bridge must be gone.  At first, I was skeptical about that explanation ‘cause I just couldn’t believe that anyone would attempt to remove a piece of infrastructure that huge.

 

However, after attempting to “Google” for a bridge like that, I found out that that is exactly what happened.  In the future, if I pass that way again, I won’t need to look further.  We have lost a unique and truly historic piece of “architecture” if I can dare to call it that.  They could’ve clearly saved the bridge but the  reason they destroyed it in the end all boiled down to money.  “Money talks”.

 

Here are some nice pictures of the bridge while it was still standing and a bit of information:

 

Toledo Terminal Upper Maumee River Swing Bridge (michaelminn.net)

 

And here is a video that was shot from a drone prior to demolishment:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAXz4DhZz48

 

I would still like to hear from anyone on this list who has more information on the bridge.  Particularly on the derailment in 1982 that permanently took the span out of service.