Posted June 30, 2006, by Eric Artman (eartman [at] aol [dot] com)
This bridge was part of a siding by which trains reached a long-gone station in downtown Quincy. The original CB&Q mainline ran across Quincy Bay on the Quinsippi Island Bridge and continued on an alignment across the Mississippi south of the present Mississippi crossing. Trains stopping in Quincy took the siding on Quinsippi Island across this bridge to the station, generally either backing into or out of the station. These alignments are quite visible on satellite photos of the area commonly available at various web portals. The passenger station was relocated to the Missouri side at West Quincy for many years, and that station has now been replaced by a station on the east side of Quincy.
During the 1960's and 1970's, the Quincy Park District used soome of these piers to support an aerial gondola ride from downtown to Quinsippi Island. The Island end connected to a narrow-guage railway (originally with a minature steam engine, later supplemented/replaced with an internal cumbustion engine) which carried riders to Quinsippi park back on the "mainland" side of the Quinsippi Bridge, where a small park with concessions and an auto museum operated. The rides and park attractions were not financially successful and have been discontinued. Pictures of the Quinsippi Bridge show where the narrow guage tracks ran right down the middle of the one-lane roadway.
This bridge was part of a siding by which trains reached a long-gone station in downtown Quincy. The original CB&Q mainline ran across Quincy Bay on the Quinsippi Island Bridge and continued on an alignment across the Mississippi south of the present Mississippi crossing. Trains stopping in Quincy took the siding on Quinsippi Island across this bridge to the station, generally either backing into or out of the station. These alignments are quite visible on satellite photos of the area commonly available at various web portals. The passenger station was relocated to the Missouri side at West Quincy for many years, and that station has now been replaced by a station on the east side of Quincy.
During the 1960's and 1970's, the Quincy Park District used soome of these piers to support an aerial gondola ride from downtown to Quinsippi Island. The Island end connected to a narrow-guage railway (originally with a minature steam engine, later supplemented/replaced with an internal cumbustion engine) which carried riders to Quinsippi park back on the "mainland" side of the Quinsippi Bridge, where a small park with concessions and an auto museum operated. The rides and park attractions were not financially successful and have been discontinued. Pictures of the Quinsippi Bridge show where the narrow guage tracks ran right down the middle of the one-lane roadway.