D&W - Charles Street Overpass

Photos 

Overview Looking East

In the heyday of the Chicago Great Western Railway, Oelwein was the hub for the three major routes of the railroad. A rail yard was located on this bridge and to either side. The CGW shops were located just south of this location, one of the largest rail shops in the United States at the time of its construction in 1899. Numerous tracks were here, and this subway provided a method of passing beneath the myriad of tracks that served the facility. (Auto buffs will know that Walter P. Chrysler was a supervisor in the CGW shops from 1905 to 1909.)

Photo taken by J.R. Manning

Enlarge

BH Photo #233381

Map 

Street View 

Facts 

Overview

Concrete stringer bridge over Charles Street on D&W Railroad

Location

Oelwein, Fayette County, Iowa

Status

Open to traffic

History

Built ca. 1899

Railroads

- Chicago Great Western Railway (CGW)
- D&W Railroad (D&W)

Design

Concrete stringer

Dimensions

Length of largest span: 20.0 ft.
Total length: 40.0 ft.

Approximate latitude, longitude

+42.67836, -91.91867   (decimal degrees)
42°40'42" N, 91°55'07" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")

Approximate UTM coordinates

15/588596/4725665 (zone/easting/northing)

Quadrangle map:

Oelwein

Inventory numbers

IA 8940 (Iowa bridge number)
BH 52674 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Inspection (as of 06/1997)

Average daily traffic (as of 1993)

2,880

Categories 

Update Log 

• April 12, 2017: New photos from John Marvig
• November 2, 2013: New Street View added by Luke Harden
• March 5, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Merged NBI info & added categories.
• June 16, 2012: Added by J.R. Manning

Sources 

• J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
• Luke
• John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com

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