TRRS 532: BNSF's Fort Madison Swing Bridge
Вставка
- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- FORT MADISON, IOWA - 11 May, 2018
Along the banks of the Mississippi River in Fort Madison, Iowa, the sirens are a regular occurrence, signaling the impending opening of the landmark BNSF swing bridge to river traffic.
An iconic crossing of an iconic river, this is a magnificent double-decked structure, with the double-tracked BNSF transcontinental mainline on the lower deck, and a two lane highway above.
Constructed from 1925 to 1927, this the second bridge to be constructed at this site. The original, opened in 1887, was a similar swing design but with only a single track and a cantilevered deck for horse-drawn traffic. By the mid-1920s the ever-increasing weight of the trains became too much for the original span and thus the Santa Fe replaced it with the structure we see today.
Altogether, the entire bridge contains a whopped 14,500 tons of steel and enough concrete to resurface 2.5 miles of US Interstate Highway.
Upbound River Tow:
Consist:
- ADM's Ardyce Randall
- 15 barges
Location/Time:
- BNSF Chillicothe Sub, Fort Madison, IA, Mississippi River Bridge, on 11May2018 at 14:15 CDT
BNSF Intermodal EB
Consist:
- BNSF 7052 [ES44C4]
- BNSF 4722 [C44-9W]
- Car Count Unknown/Mixed intermodal
Location/Time:
- BNSF Chillicothe Sub, Fort Madison, IA, MS River Bridge, on 11May2018 at 14:35 CDT
BNSF Intermodal WB
Consist:
- BNSF 8177 [ES44C4]
- BNSF 5399 [C44-9W]
- BNSF 7672 [ES44DC]
- BNSF 4943 [C44-9W]
- BNSF 4487 [C44-9W]
- Car Count Unknown/Mixed intermodal
Location/Time:
- BNSF Chillicothe Sub, Fort Madison, IA, MS River Bridge, on 11May2018 at 15:03 CDT
Thanks for watching! Make sure to leave a like and subscribe, for more from the Thornapple River Rail Series! Your support keeps this channel rolling - don’t forget to leave your thoughts and questions in the comments below!
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Videography Equipment:
- Primary: Sony FDR-AX53 4K Camcorder
- Secondary: Sony HDR-PJ790V HD Camcorder
- Aerial Platform: DJI Phantom 3 Advanced Drone
- Radio Scanner: Uniden Bearcat BC125AT
- Edited with: Cyberlink PowerDirector 16
Created by Alex Christmas. Copyright 2018, as the Thornapple River Rail Series, All Rights Reserved
Awesome. FM is my home town, and my mother was buried in Illinois. On the day of her funeral, we got stuck on the bridge on our way to the burial, and there were two barges passing through it at the same time - one northbound, one southbound. I was able to get incredible views of them as they passed through. Dad was beside himself that we would be late, but I felt as if Mom had set this up for us to see on such a sad day.
I've seen this bridge on Railfans live stream, it is so good to be able to see it up close and working. Great Video Quality too.
I have cousins that live in Cedar Rapids, IA. On my way back home to Nashville, TN, after visiting them, my stops over time have been at Mount Pleasant, Burlington, Keokuk, and Ft. Madison. So I've seen the swing bridge do it's thing several times.
Not my neighborhood, but traveled by this location and had the pleasant opportunity to watch the entire sequence as you recorded. Thanks for the video. Nicely done. To me the marvel and technology that is 90 years old and still functions to this day, humbles me as to what our forefathers have built. A welcome break for the the ultra sanitized modern structures. History. Living.
Thank you for showing us a piece of history that is still in use. Good day and make more videos too.
Thank you for this video. We have crossed this bridge twice on Amtrak in May 2019.
Never even heard of Ft. Madison until the Virtual Railfan cams arrived. It's on my bucket list, it sounds like a serious (if underrated) rail hot spot.
Was just there today. Definitely worth the trip. Since we were on a bit of a schedule only 30 40 minutes for some stretching of the legs and some impromptu railfanning but in that time BNSF put on quite a show with 4 trains.
Sadly no barge traffic.
An Overall Excellent Presentation. Thanks for Solid Content and an always Interesting Video. 👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries My only wish is that you might make another vid using a drone. Outstanding presentation.
lived in ft Madison all my life. it's an awesome bridge
Excellent video! What an impressive structure. If I'm never able to travel to see this in person I'm glad you were able to share it with us.
How many ways did I enjoy this video. Great narration, great filming, time on each scene so you can feel a little like you would if actually there. Very mellow. No somebody-else’s-taste-in-music. Great style over all.
. another key point is somehow keeping ambient sound in the vid. There is no way for me to grade that because you could put anything in there, but if it works it is OK.
No sound trickery here! I only add the narration clips in and adjust sound levels to prevent peaking and make sure the ambient sound doesn't make the narration hard to hear
Alex, Another top notch (or should that be notch 8😀) video. I really appreciate how thorough you research your videos before hand. Then you professionally edit and voice track it. Kudos for a job well done. In my books you're in the top 3 rail fanners on UA-cam.
Absolutely; cracking video, thanks for posting it. ❤👍
Very impressive! Really dig all the history & facts you speak of as well, makes the video all the better for it...great video!
Impressionnant et superbe. Rien de plus...
Great video, editing and narration work. Excellent video Alex. Always enjoyable.
our America at work! TY for sharing
Great video! I check the VRF Fort Madison site numerous times a day. Don’t see anything like this here in New Jersey.
I'm in Australia
I found your video very interesting and you are very informative
great stuff
Love the footage of the towboat & barges
Thanks for the tour of that amazing structure.
Excellent video and narration. Great job.
2:00 When I was little, I used to get a toy wooden turntable bridge to add on my wooden train table
thanks much for the video. would have seen this awesome.
This Is Great Watching The Fort Madison Iowa Swingbridge 😊😊😊 🚂🚂🚂
Now ... THIS is how to present a swing bridge video.
Great videography and clear narration. There's also a swing bridge in Mystic, CT. At least back in the late 90s. Cheers
Nice work.
Muy interesante y resuelve tres temas de transporte. Muy bien ilustrado. Muchas gracias
Great video and narrative. I’ve been over that bridge many times. I have family that lives on both sides of the bridge. It’s interesting that the toll is a one way toll and you are only required to pay going East from Iowa to Illinois. I love this bridge. I would like to try to incorporate it into my HO model layout someday.
Of course you only really experience it by traveling across it. The first time I crossed it I was coming out of Chicago and left the bad weather in Illinois. Ft. Madison is awesome in the sunlight. Alas,when I returned,the bad weather was already well into Missouri so I got both sides of the coin.
A very cool bridge....
amazing bridge
Another homerun video! If there were a 10X-thumbs-up button, I'd've just tapped it! Santa Fe was, and by extension BNSF, is so lucky that that bridge was built as a double track span and also that it is high enough, just barely, to clear double stack domestic containers. That bridge was already 50 yrs-old when the very first double stacks took to the rails, and those international containers of the late 1970's and early '80's were still a couple of feet shorter than the domestic containers of today.
Indeed, imagine the headache if this were a single track and too low! Amazingly the first bridge at the sight was also double-track, if my source was correct! Talk about foresight.
Was just wondering if it was a double so thank you man! AMAZING bridge!
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries - Double tracking was very common in the 1800s due to poor communications and signaling as compared with the 20th century.
That was cool to watch.
wow he's really fighting that current
this is super cool. where I'm from we have a swing bridge, (Miramichi's Morrissy Bridge) and I was 4 when the bridge closed but even before then the swing portion wasn't in use. in 2008 it was deemed unsafe and it was almost taken down in 2009 but I'm glad they didn't because that is a huge deal in Miramichi
There’s really no room to spare for those double stack containers, I’d say if they added a couple more layers of paint on those containers they might just rub the top
I was just thinking the same thing!
Tunnels are like that too. I remember seeing a video of a freight hopper clogging than nearly getting smashed off.
A few years ago CN replaced the ex CNW 1899 lattice truss swing bridge over the Fox River on their mainline in Oshkosh, WI with a single leaf roller bascule bridge. Even though the old bridge had some issues with its foundation, it was still able to clear double stacked containers.
The new bridge opens and closes far more quickly than the old span.
Should a time come when North American railroads have to convert to overhead catenary electric for tractive power, good bye double stacks, tri-level auto racks and Superliners.
I have been watching this video closely, mesmerized as usual ! I love ancient forms of infrastructure. Traffic is fairly steady.
Can someone please tell me why building a proper bridge is NOT feasible ?
A taller bridge would require miles of approach fill to get the railroad up high enough. Thus, the cheaper option is to keep the low-slung bridges like this. In terms of replacing this older specimen, these structures were built to last, and will last almost indefinitely with proper maintenance.
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries Much Abliged. I have NEVER seen a railfan channel better than yours!
Life on the Mississippi.
From what I can tell, the camera appears to be at the foot of the original bridge span, which ran just a few degrees off of direct north to south. As viewed in aerial imagery, the curvature of the original grade is easily seen on the opposite side of the river at Niota, IL.
Pretty much!
Amazing Bridge,and that Tug is hauling ass against the current,Wow.
Tow not Tug.
I PRAY EVERYONE GETS WHAT THEY WANT AMEN🙏
That would bè a sight to see
There's a swing bridge in my city and I remember I was at the shore of the river with my mom and it swung to let a boat pass it gave me nightmares for years 😂😂😂😂😂 said all that to say it ain't all that lol
Enjoyed the video! Great narration indeed!
Super bridge..
Wow ! THAT'S a big bridge. I'm surprised that it can handle double stacks. Thanks for sharing !
Fort Madison is such a good hotspot. I watch the railcam here once in a while! How many trains run per day there?
Very cool video,I have to get back out that way hopefully soon.Nicely done video.
Awesome , Thanks
Great video as always. Nice work.
Thats one big ass swing bridge!
Historic though it definitely is, BNSF is going to have to start thinking about the successor to this bridge.
There were preliminary plans to replace a pair of the fixed spans to the east with a new lift span, but that fell through and never made it very far. The Coast Guard wants to move the channel eastwards toward the middle of the river.
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries I've been over this bridge many times, both in car and on bicycle, and have been caught by boats many times too. I would not take a job that would require me to cross this bridge. Weight is limited to 30 tons and semis are not permitted.
I’ve heard plans about dropping the car part of the bridge and rebuilding only a train bridge but I’m not sure how true that is.
polyrhythmia One of my friends is very worried about that as he works at the prison and with out this bridge he would have to go through keokuk or Burlington which both add a good 30 minutes to his daily commute. It is becoming a high possibility as this bridge is becoming very old and rebuilding a bridge with the road part would be very expensive for BNSF.
Now that is amazingly cool
Historic Mississippi River floods occurred on Illinois side of river (Niota, Pontoosuc, Dallas City)
in 1965 and 1993, where sand bagging was required.
Once again a proof in the USA everything has to be BIG and SPECIAL.
Love the bridge. It's an idea to realize on my train layout which I start building next year.
By the way, does anybody know how deep the river is where the central turning point of this bridge is standing.
Greetings from the Čech Republic 🇨🇿
Very impressive!
Damn good job!
Very good and informative.
I just assumed the bridge only operated on the train schedule, never realized trains would have to stop.
River was there first, so it takes priority. Plus watercraft are harder to stop!
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries I'll have to disagree with it's harder to stop a watercraft than a train. I drove many ships in the Navy and large personal water craft as a civilian, I can stop them a lot faster than a train.
1:55 A bridge turntable?! I don't see that every day!
In the Netherlands there are several turntable bridges but smaller as this one.
Greetings from the Čech Republic 🇨🇿
Im used to them. Theres 3 in toledo, used to be more
Even the traffic is running above the train tracks where the trains underneath.
Maybe they don't need gates for trains to stop at a rotator swing bridge when the rotator swing bridge rotates to let the boats, big boats and even freighter ships to run through as well.
Always love this location. Flange squeal not so much. Thanks.
Wow this is so cool
Main line of the Santa Fe - 75 trains a day
there is a similar bridge at the Rock Island Arsenel, built, I believe, in 1898.
Need to bring back the webcam. Been gone for over 5 years now.
VRF has a web cam.
@@lawrencewheeler8868 I saw that. Totally awesome.
This is one interesting bridge
There's a rail swing bridge in my area, but the swing mechanism no longer works. It was built in 1903 to accommodate steamboats.
So if we were drive our vehicle across this bridge, doesn't that make us a customer of the BNSF??
I guess so?
Any idea what the men on the bow of the barge string were doing with those poles? It looked like they were probing for water depth, but that seems unlikely.
BoatShaper It is possible as the swing sits very close to the shore.
Ever been to Davenport Iowa there is a bridge similar to this one other than the track is on top dont know of its double tracked or not though
Arsenal Bridge, originally used by Rock Island RR, now Iowa Interstate.
Significant 19th century history with bridge crossings in Quad Cities. (A. Lincoln).
There is also a swing bridge for the BNSF in Burlington Iowa
Several years ago that old bridge was actually replaced with a new state-of-the-art lift bridge.
Actually the locos would be GP35's, the GP40's would have turbocharged 645's. Great video!
wow...thats`s impressive
Would you ever think of doing anything on the CP watertown sub? If you ever did I could give you train numbers
How many times have the bridge been hit by river traffic?
7:34 CUTE SIREN
I live in MN and never knew such a bridge existed to the neighboring state to the south ..
Very cool bridge . You mentioned a $ 2.00 toll heading east . Is that east only and why not one going west ?
Awesome video..Thanks
It's not unusual to only charge in one direction, on the thought that most drivers will cross in both directions.
Correct, eastbound only. This is largely so they only need one person to both operate the bridge and collect the toll. And as macmedic892 noted, most people will end up crossing both ways, so it's effectively $1 each way.
Granted, I've crossed the bridge twice now, but both in the westbound direction, so I've never had to pay the toll! Sorry BNSF!
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries actually it's free going one way and $2 going the other and they do not allow semi trucks on the bridge.
Cool.
Can you please make a video about Railroad drawbridges ? I
Next time , add a map so we can see where is that bridge in USA ! Thanks !
Will do
What would happen if the powerful surf big wave could hit that?
Well that'd be a massive 15+ foot wave on a river...so probably not something to worry about!
Very cool
Fifteen barges, eh? That's a lot of wheat, corn, and oats going to General Mills!
Your next box of Cherrios!
She is dragging some speed
3:50 it's Nessie... or maybe I should say Missie lol :-P
It might seem to swing fast. unless your sitting there wait to cross it.
This is really cool and all, but why didn't they make the bridge taller? Is there a replacement in the works? It's so inefficient. And I'm an Iowan that has crossed this bridge a few times.
In order to clear river traffic, the bridge would need an insane amount of clearance - think of the freeway bridge in Burlington. To get 100' of elevation on a railroad with a decent 0.5% grade you need almost four miles of track, which is prohibitively expensive. Plus, that tall bridge will cause problems for trains climbing hills, burning extra fuel, more bridge maintenance, and so on. Much cheaper and more efficient to simply have a low, movable bridge.
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries Great points. So why is this bridge so rare? I'm trying to remember how the Rock Island Arsenal bridge works. I've driven over it a couple times over the past two months.
My bad. It does rotate....
it was built in 1927, when they never envisaged that one day they'd have trains with two stacks of containers
It is a beautiful old swing bridge from a bygone era but it should really have been replaced long ago by a tunnel.
A Tunnel would be impractical, because the river is deep, the ground is poor, and the railroad is near water level for some distance either side of the bridge, so there's a huge risk of flooding any tunnel.
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries
There’s a nice swing bridge in Clarksville Tn. It not a double but spans the Cumberland. There’s an Ingram Barge CO. sand depo up from it, and it swings on a regular basis.
Railway bridge
Chicago land ??? What are we, 5 years old???
Have you never heard the term before? Calling the Chicago metro area "Chicagoland" is incredibly common, especially in the midwest.
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries I live only 60 miles from Chicago and never have I heard that but from little children.
@@davidcurtis5398 One man’s experience does not make for universal truth.
I take it the train must have an EZ Pass.
Haha, something like that!
When the RR actually owns the bridge, they can let their people slide through without paying. :)
Not a tug. It's a towboat.
Whenever I see a thumbs down, I always wonder what is it about the video that they didn't like. Maybe they're just haters no matter what they watch.
It is just like music, or positics. Just because people don’t like same music as me, doesn’t make them haters.
BNSF should at least charge the barges $20 a pass if they're gonna charge motorists $2 lol
The bridge needs urgently to be painted.
Not really. The steel readily withstands the light rust, it isn't in any danger of becoming structurally deficient. Paint is expensive. That's why they really only paint the center span, so that it doesn't expand or contract to the point where it doesn't line up correctly.
An excellent video covering all aspects of the bridge operation! The double stacked containers sure don't appear to have much clearance.
I'm wondering how Edwardian thinking there must have brought about such a generous loading guage.