Rail preservation comes in all different venues. When my daughter used to live in northern Kentucky, I would cross the Ohio River on Interstate 65 and note the old five span Big Four bridge just to the east and shake my head as to what a waste! Now, after 45 years of non-use, the bridge has been reopened for pedestrian traffic. On a limited basis! The rail approaches to the bridge were removed a couple of years after Penn Central abandoned it, meaning it became known locally as "the Bridge to Nowhere". The new walking approach to the bridge on the Louisville, Kentucky side is now open, but the approach on the Jeffersonville, Indiana side is still under construction. Not sure when that is scheduled to be finished. In addition to the New York Central System's Big Four (CCC&StL), I believe that both the B&O and C&O used the bridge. The other major railroad bridge entering Louisville from Indiana is to the west of the I65 bridge and was built and maintained by the Kentucky & Indiana Terminal Railroad and remains in use today for rail traffic.

I just recently heard about this Big Four bridge reopening, and thought it would be worth posting. Photos welcome!

Les

Once again, I will point you to Bridgehunter.com, perhaps the most useful of several such "bridge wiki" sites (see also HistoricBridges.org), which does a good job in this regard but is always in need of more railroad-focused, railroad-knowledgeable editors and contributors:

http://bridgehunter.com/ky/jefferson/big-four/

Thanks. By checking that Bridgehunter website, I see I miscounted the spans. It's a six span bridge....not five spans. I missed the smaller span at the north (Indiana) end. Also, I read there that it will be the longest pedestrian only bridge in the world. Certainly glad it did not end up as scrap.

Les

My grasp of Louisville Railroad History is sketchy at best, but for discussion, here we go:

The Big 4 bridge was used by NYC and for a time by the Louisville & Jeffersonville Bridge and Terminal Co. Kind of an interurban or street car thing, it was a subsidiary of NYC and did some industry switching.

Big 4 had a yard, roundhouse, turntable and freight house at the Louisville end. This is where the baseball stadium now sits. C&O freights originated and terminated in that yard, but all switching was done by Big 4, and later PC, crews and engines.

Once PC consolidated all traffic onto the PRR bridge (see below), the Big 4 yard became an "island," reachable only by L&N (and C&O trackage rights) from the east and the IC from the west. PC crews still broke up and made up the inbound and outbound C&O trains, and handled interchange for C&O with the L&N, to the IC, to and from the PC, and to the K&I.

C&O didn't use any bridges in Louisville, as they didn't cross the Ohio there. Their trains ran through Central Kentucky, using rights over the L&N from Anchorage into Louisville.

B&O, Monon, and Southern used the K&I bridge in the west end of Louisville. IIRC, the K&IT RR was jointly owned by B&O and Southern.

A bridge not mentioned is the busy one south of I-65, originally the PRR bridge, then the PC bridge, then the CR bridge, and now the L&I bridge. That's the one with the still-active drawbridge over the barge canal that goes around the falls to the locks at McAlpine Dam, which itself is close to the K&I Bridge.

Big 4 bridge was used by Indiana RR and predecessor interurbans, including electric Sleeping Car service to Indianapolis. They had steeper double track approaches at both ends, but shared the single railroad track across the River.
Kentucky & Indiana Terminal bridge was used by Indiana RR and predecessor and successor trolley cars that later used Louisville's Confederate trolley gauge of 5 feet, 0 inches. Because of the trolleys' gauge change, there were 4 running rails for each track of the double track bridge.
Source: "Interstate A History of Interstate Public Service Rail Operations" by Jerry Marlette, copyright 1990 by Transportation Trails.

Jim -

The K&IT bridge also had a single automobile lane on each side of the railroad tracks with a wood plank deck! I have heard that it was interesting being in an automobile when a train was rumbling across the bridge at the same time! Those wood decks are supposedly still in place (although in poor condition) even though automobile traffic has long been removed from the bridge. Incidentally, the Indiana side of the K&IT Bridge is in New Albany, Indiana, which is west of Jeffersonville. There is a steel caboose located in downtown New Albany lettered I believe, for the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago, a Monon Railroad predecessor. I don't recall the heritage of that caboose, although I don't think it is a Monon caboose.

Les

Let's get some things straight, for the sake of accuracy:

1. "Northern Kentucky" is a term commonly used to refer to the areas of Kentucky just south of Cincinnati, namely Boone and Campbell counties. I spent the first 24 years of my life in Kentucky, most of it just south of Louisville and never heard of the Louisville area referred to as "Northern Kentucky."

2. The "Big Four Bridge" was operated by the Louisville & Jeffersonville Bridge and Terminal Company. They were a NYC subsidiary that operated local switching, had a small yard and roundhouse. The 85' turntable from this line is mouldering at KRM. The pit was about where the center of the ballpark is now. The Indiana Railroad used the Big Four Bridge to access Louisville, using dual gauge streetcar track. The Louisville Railway Company's streetcar lines were all 5' gauge. Indiana Railroad 205 at IRM, a suburban car that later served in Terre Haute also used this trackage for an "over the bridge" suburban trolley service to Jeffersonville and west to New Albany.

The Louisville approach span of the Big Four was in two legs, forming a wye. The traffic interchange known as "Spaghetti Junction" where I-65, I-64 and I-71 all converge was designed around the then in-place bridge approaches. The bridge was abandoned and the approaches dismantled a few years after completion.

The Big Four proper had a small yard over near Clarksville, IN and a servicing facility there as well. Just north of there, they connected to the B&O's line to North Vernon, where they used trackage rights. After North Vernon, the Big Four ran north.

3. Just west of downtown, is the PRR/PC/Conrail/L&I bridge. It was originally built in the 1870s, though the bridge structure was changed. The draw span is over the Louisville & Portland Canal. Barges transiting the Falls of the Ohio do so at the McApline Locks at the end of the canal. The lower gauge of the Ohio and the exit of the canal is under the K&I bridge. The McApline Dam is actually adjacent to the north spans of the bridge. The Corps of Engineers use a walkway on bridge itself to reach the gate mechanisms for the dam.

The locks have been rebuilt and there is a nice visitor center where you can watch barges transit the locks.

Also, the PRR's main yard was in Jeffersonville as well, where the L&I's yard is today. However, the roundhouse was on the Kentucky side of the river. Power ran across the bridge for servicing.

4. The K&I Bridge was owned by the Kentucky & Indiana Terminal Railroad, which was owned by the B&O, Southern and Monon. The K&I was folded into Norfolk Southern, and NS now owns the Youngstown Yard, the roundhouse and the bridge.

The K&I Bridge had two auto lanes, one on each side. One was closed after an overweight dump truck damaged the deck. The other deck is used by Norfolk Southern and even its employees can use it to commute to work. However, you can drive on the bridge only southbound.

The K&I also hosed a broad gauge "over the bridge" suburban trolley operation, last operating under the name Louisville & New Albany. The bridge used gauntlet tracks to accommodate the 5' gauge streetcars. At one time, you could do an "electric circle" around Louisville and over the Ohio River, by changing cars in New Albany or in downtown Louisville.

5. The 5' gauge of the Louisville Railway Company has nothing to do with the Confederacy. The first railroad in Kentucky, the Lexington and Ohio operated the first railroad in Kentucky and in Louisville. They laid tracks down the middle of main street and used horse cars and occasionally early steam locomotives. The early system was later abandoned and local businessmen used it to operate the first mule car service. The system expanded, companies merged, but the system kept the 5' gauge of the original and ancient 1830s railway construction.

I believe Morning Sun Books has a wonderful pair of books -- Trackside Around Louisville (West) and Trackside Around Louisville (East). Both are highly recommended, IMHO.

ETA

[quote="wilkinsd"]Let's get some things straight, for the sake of accuracy:

Also, the PRR's main yard was in Jeffersonville as well, where the L&I's yard is today. However, the roundhouse was on the Kentucky side of the river. Power ran across the bridge for servicing."

PRR had a large freight house and a small yard on the Kentucky side, as well.


"4. The K&I Bridge was owned by the Kentucky & Indiana Terminal Railroad, which was owned by the B&O, Southern and Monon. The K&I was folded into Norfolk Southern, and NS now owns the Youngstown Yard, the roundhouse and the bridge."

That would be Youngtown yard. No "s".


I never saw a plank deck on the K&I bridge; but I do remember a steel mesh deck,similar to that on some the drawbridges in the Chicago area.

The K&I bridge also had a swivel span, near the north end.

Regarding the longest pedestrian bridge claim...the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, now called Walkway Over the Hudson, is longer.

Lincoln -

Thanks for the correction on the automobile deck. Obviously, I never had the chance to take a car ride on that surface and was going from memory on something I had read. You are right of course, that the deck is a steel mesh material. Maybe even "scarier" than wood planks!

Les

I remember riding in the back seat of my grandparents' Buick over that roadway sometime in the late 1950's. It was certainly scary enough for me back then! (the bridge; not the Buick) The outer sides looked no stronger than a fence, and it seemed a LONG way down to that river.

I'm not sure, but I think that at one time, the McKinley Bridge in St. Louis was similarly built.

Thanks for the correction on the "surface"

BTW, the toll booths still exist on the Kentucky side near Youngstown Yard.

Also, yes the McKinley bridge was similarly constructed, but at some point, while the IT was still using it for passenger operations, the center and outer lanes were paved over, with the track imbedded in the street, making it a 4 lane bridge.

Lincoln -

I got out the "Bible" (the Official Guide) and looked up the K&IT entry. You're right, it's
Youngtown Yard.

Les

Today's satellite photo shows both lanes blocked on the K&IT bridge, and the Kentucky side toll booths gone, but the concrete islands still present.