I'm hoping someone could tell me a little about what powered swing bridges in the days before electricity. I assume using horses, mules, or other animals was an option, but were there others? Maybe using the water current in some way? Any examples of specific bridges would be helpful. Thanks!
Without the benefit - or commitment - of any research, I am inclined to believe that those swing bridges which were remote from 'civilization' (and the associated sources of power, such as steam, compressed air, etc.) were likely of the 'armstrong' type - i.e., simply manually powered by the bridge tender(s) and/ or train crewmen, the same as for turntables in similar circumstances. After all, a turntable is basically a rotating bridge, just like a swing bridge . . . Although, I will concede that could be an arduous endeavor for the larger/ longer ones.
This opinion is reinforced by at least one remaining example that is still used occasionally. That is the bridge over the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal of the Inland Waterway in Lewes, Delaware. Here are the coordinates, per the ACME Mapper 2.0 application, at - http://mapper.acme.com/ -
N 38.77356, W 75.13392
This bridge is a little unusual in that it's pretty short, and asymmetric - the pivot is at one end, not in the middle. But I've seen it operated by hand by a couple of crewmen, to both close and open it. With a balanced and symmetric bridge, really large, smooth, and well-lubricated bearings, and a lot more reduction gearing between the hand crank and the 'bull ring' on the pivot pier, a much larger/ longer bridge could also be opened by hand - though it might take 5 to 10 minutes of strenuous effort - or even more - to accomplish that. See the following photos - none are mine - for some depictions of it
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1848333
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1848330
"The Delaware Coast Line's Lewes Line" by Al Moran at -
http://www.trainweb.org/eastrail/dcl_1.html
Photo of a train crossing the bridge in the closed position is at -
http://www.trainweb.org/eastrail/dcl_10_lewes_bridge.jpg
- Paul North.
Thank you Paul and Bucyrus for the quick responses... and sorry about the double post. You've both been very helpful. It is amazing to me that so much steel can be moved by one person with just gearing! Learn something new every day...
As was pointed out, balance and a good bearing go a long, long way.
A properly balanced "armstrong" turntable can be turned by one person, with a locomotive aboard. I've seen it done.
One thing about who's doing the turning, however - if such a bridge was located on a navigable waterway and was normally kept "closed" for the passage of trains and other land traffic, probably the only person available to open the bridge for river traffic would be the bridge tender.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
In town here there is a small swing bridge on an abandoned Rock Island industrial spur over the I & M canal. A book that I have has a small piece about it that says " A man would stand in the center of the bridge, insert a Tee wrench, and turn it to open the bridge". It has a couple good pictures of the mechanics, I'll have to see if I can find it and scan them.
Rockfan 71 In town here there is a small swing bridge on an abandoned Rock Island industrial spur over the I & M canal. A book that I have has a small piece about it that says " A man would stand in the center of the bridge, insert a Tee wrench, and turn it to open the bridge". It has a couple good pictures of the mechanics, I'll have to see if I can find it and scan them.
LentzJ I'm hoping someone could tell me a little about what powered swing bridges in the days before electricity.
I'm hoping someone could tell me a little about what powered swing bridges in the days before electricity.
Thanks for asking this question. It is something I have also wondered about, but it was lower on my list of "questions that needed to be asked". Thanks. And thank you to the other posters who answered the question.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
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Paul, there must be a nice counterweight for that bridge at Lewes. I could not tell a great deal about it from the pictures. I wonder how long the bridge will be closed at a time, since it apparently can be worked from one end only. I trust that traffic on the waterway is not long delayed before the train returns to the shore with the mechanism.
Johnny
Deggesty Paul, there must be a nice counterweight for that bridge at Lewes. I could not tell a great deal about it from the pictures. I wonder how long the bridge will be closed at a time, since it apparently can be worked from one end only. I trust that traffic on the waterway is not long delayed before the train returns to the shore with the mechanism.
There is a concrete counterweight {barely visible in the photo) hanging between the girders. It seems to me the bridge was electrically operated maybe 20 or 25 years ago when I saw a train cross it. They left the bridge closed until they got back onto the west bank of the canal.
Before I noticed this thread I replied on the other thread that some bridges were steam powered.
Slightly off topic, but hand powered turntables once were pretty common. This one still exists at Madison, SD:
And way off topic....I sold the lumber for the roundhouse in the background, and I once got a cab ride in the locomotive shown, just by being in the right place at the right time. The railroad shown is at the Prairie Villiage. It's about a 1 mile loop. I was surprised how little effort it took to turn the locomotive.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Murphy Siding [snip] I was surprised how little effort it took to turn the locomotive.
There you go ! And that's with the weight of a full-size locomotive on-board the turntable as well - roughly 125 to 140 tons or so - and without the benefit of the reduction gearing of the swing bridge. Although, the 'armstrong' lever at the outer end of the turntable would provide much more leverage than the mechanism at the pivot center.
One of the retired engineers who regularly contributed to TRAINS had an observation about Armstrong turntables. If the locomotive was properly balanced on the turntable, operation was fairly easy, if the locomotive was not balanced on the turntable, it would take half the town to turn it.
I used to use that bridge across the I & M canal when the Rock was still an active railroad and would cross that taking boxcars into Nabisco. At this time both races were still in operation and both power plants still running. The north race being too fast to fish in. All of the area south of Nabisco used to be nothing but warehouses and when the old river bridge was there, the narrow one, there was a railroad crossing to the other side of the road to more warehouses. Of course this was back in the '60's
But getting back to the bridge. On each end of the bridge were metal feet that would have to cranked up and out of the way prior to the the bridge being rotated so a barge could pass. Once the feet were cranked up the bridge man would walk to the center of the bridge and insert his "T" handle into the crank slot and start turning. The bridge was mounted on a center pedestal with a ring gear mounted to the pedestal and 4 steel casters riding on the top surface of the ring gear. Mounted to the bridge was a pinion gear that was engaged to the ring gear. as the bridge turned his "T" handle the pinion gear would turn and in turn rotate the bridge to run with the canal. once the barge was past he would crank back the other way until it was re-aligned with the tracks and then lower the feet on either end again so trains would be able cross again.
Another interesting note on the old river bridge was when you get right to the crest of that bridge there used to be a wooden drive way off of the bridge so the lock men could drive their model A's down on to the Island to run the locks for the barges that use the Illinois river. Check it out! it was there up to the late 50's early 60's. I can remember my mom dropping my dad off there.
The bridge on the CN Dresser Subdivision from Wisconsin to Minnesota across the St. Croix River was an armstrong. Steam boats passed north of the bridge when it was built in 1882 but I doubt that lasted long. Steam boats were built in Osceola, WI and before the railroad provided transportation up and down the river. Once the railroad was in, I suspect the steamboats faded.
Word is that the bridge was high enough that it didn't need to open for the steamboats but law required that all bridges below a certain height be swing or lift to clear river traffic. The bridge rotates on a center pivot with a gearing system run on a vertical shaft in the middle of the bridge. The section crew rotated the bridge every month to insure it was in working order. The bridge no longer rotates as the rail was replaced across the bridge gap and the rotating mechanism removed. The telltails to warn the brakemen still hang over the track (a testimony to the rugged construction of that era) and the bridge is rusty but still looks good. The most interesting part is that an Osprey makes her nest on the east end of the bridge every year and squawks at us for the first few weeks of the season until she gets used to the train passing by.
http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/6/0/9/3609.1221015514.jpg
For petitnj:
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About the Lewes Bridge: My guess that being near the Sea it is normally left open?
How would a train crew access the center of the bridge to align it to the railroad crossing? Is a boat kept there for that purpose?
RWM
I kinda forgot about this. The pictures weren't quite as good as I remembered, but you can see the bridge and and some of the gears to turn it. There has been some talk of trying to get the bridge operational again.
Gunfighter32 I used to use that bridge across the I & M canal when the Rock was still an active railroad and would cross that taking boxcars into Nabisco. At this time both races were still in operation and both power plants still running. The north race being too fast to fish in. All of the area south of Nabisco used to be nothing but warehouses and when the old river bridge was there, the narrow one, there was a railroad crossing to the other side of the road to more warehouses. Of course this was back in the '60's
When I was a kid in the 70s I lived on the north side of the Rock Island tracks across from where that spur took off. I remember many times watching an engine with a boxcar or two for Nabisco disappear off the mainline and into the woods. The last time I remember that spur being used was about 1985, when Nabisco sold the factory and the paper mill was closed. They had some very large machinery on flat cars that was sold and shipped off, not too long after that the tracks were torn out along with the south main track.
http://www.newschannel5.com/story/14198206/motor-fails-bridge-operator-stuck-on-swinging-bridge
Bridge in Nashville stuck open. Stuff still happens.
Wdlgln005 http://www.newschannel5.com/story/14198206/motor-fails-bridge-operator-stuck-on-swinging-bridge Bridge in Nashville stuck open. Stuff still happens.
James
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