Rating:
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Abandoned NS - Bridge No. 6

Cook County, Illinois

Photos 

Photo taken by Steve Conro in September 2012

Enlarge

BH Photo #239871

Map 

Street Views 

Description 

The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern (LS&MS) Railway bridges over the Calumet River are among four surviving examples of the “span-driven” vertical-lift type in Chicago. Built from patents developed in the early 20th century by the Kansas City-based engineering firm of Waddell and Harrington, this pair of parallel vertical-lift bridges are a dominating visual landmark to the surrounding area and were a popular alternative to the bascule bridge designs available to the railroads at that time.

- Comission on Chicago Landmarks, Historic Chicago Railroad Bridges report

Facts 

Overview
Abandoned warren through truss with all verticals bridge over Calumet River on former Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Ry (later New York Central RR)
Location
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Status
Abandoned
History
Built 1912-1915; currently out of use, stored in partially raised position
Builders
- Dravo Contracting Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Waddell & Harrington of Kansas City, Missouri
Railroads
- Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad (LS&MS)
- New York Central Railroad (NYC)
Design
Warren through truss with all verticals
Dimensions
Total length: 210.0 ft.
Also called
PC - Calumet River Bridge
NYC - Calumet River Bridge
LSMS - Calumet River Bridge
Conrail - Calumet River Bridge
Bridge No. 6
Bridge #6
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.71981, -87.54271   (decimal degrees)
41°43'11" N, 87°32'34" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/454857/4618809 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Lake Calumet
Inventory number
BH 50919 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Abandoned (3,314)
Built 1915 (1,168)
Built during 1910s (9,198)
Chicago Landmark (14)
Chicago, Illinois (306)
Cook County, Illinois (427)
Dravo Contracting Co. (11)
Have street view (25,175)
Illinois (4,441)
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad (45)
Movable (2,833)
Navigable waterway (2,090)
 New York Central Railroad (464)
Railroad (14,250)
Skewed (4,804)
Span Drive Vertical Lift (90)
Through truss (13,903)
Total length 175-250 feet (4,034)
Truss (31,034)
Vertical lift (412)
Waddell & Harrington (44)
Warren through truss (1,541)
Warren through truss with all verticals (360)
Warren truss (6,202)

Update Log 

  • January 19, 2019: New photo from Douglas Butler
  • January 18, 2016: New Street View added by Douglas Butler
  • November 30, 2015: New Street View added by Douglas Butler
  • September 25, 2012: Updated by Steve Conro: Added category "Navigable waterway"
  • September 23, 2012: New photos from Steve Conro
  • August 13, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added category "Railroad"
  • January 12, 2012: Added by Frank Hicks

Sources 

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Comments 

Abandoned NS - Bridge No. 6
Posted October 16, 2017, by Anonymous

Doubtful, seeing as the bridge this entry for is in the raised position with no tracks going to the bridge.

Abandoned NS - Bridge No. 6
Posted October 15, 2017, by Rick Drew (rickthephotoguy [at] gmail [dot] com)

I've been here several times - trains use it daily.

Abandoned NS - Bridge No. 6
Posted April 21, 2016, by Shad Vargo (scih30 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Not sure if it is true but I have heard a rumor from someone that works at Norfolk Southern's Colehour Yard(One mile due east from the bridges) that they MAY be given a new life carrying more train traffic with more main tracks being added. As of now that seems unlikely since freight has fallen but if I remember right supposedly all the Class I(UP,BNSF,CSX,CN,and,CP)railroads are supposed to help fund this project. As for the other Amtrak is supposedly going to use it for their line to try and shift their trains off the NS Chicago Line. Like I said I'm not sure if this is true but if it is we will see how it plays out

Cook Co. Bridges
Posted June 13, 2015, by Eva (graficaeva [at] yahoo [dot] com)

These bridges are really cool, esp. the abandoned ones.