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More from boilerwash
Youngs High Bridge located in Tyrone, KY spanning the Kentucky River between Woodford and Anderson Counties. The bridge is a massive piece of victorian engineering that has been left UNTOUCHED since its construction in 1888. No strengthing or modification, the bridge seen here is the bridge that was standing here 124 years ago.
The last freight train crossed in 1980 and the last official piece of equipment to cross the bridge was a Norfolk Southern HI-Rail in 1985. During the last years of the bridges operation train crews would let trains cross the bridge UNMANNED at slow speeds and grab them again on the other side.
That large structure on the hill is part of the Wild Turkey Whiskey Distillery that the railroad used to serve.
The last freight train crossed in 1980 and the last official piece of equipment to cross the bridge was a Norfolk Southern HI-Rail in 1985. During the last years of the bridges operation train crews would let trains cross the bridge UNMANNED at slow speeds and grab them again on the other side.
That large structure on the hill is part of the Wild Turkey Whiskey Distillery that the railroad used to serve.
Category Photography / Miscellaneous
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 1280 x 960px
File Size 182.6 kB
Yeah, by the 1970's the only thing traveling this part of the line was the Southern's local train between Lexington and Lawrenceburg, KY that was handled by SW-1's because that was lightest thing that could handle the local as it served the Tyrone Power Plant (Woodford side) and the Wild Turkey plant (Anderson side). The way things were done towards the end was that the train would stop on the woodford side and the brakeman would drive a hi-rail across the bridge over to the Wild Turkey plant. Then the engineer would set the throttle in notch 1 and let the train crawl across the bridge by it's lonesome where the brakeman would crawl aboard on the other side and stop it. He would then proceed to go get the engineer with the hi-rail and they would continue into Lawrenceburg. Coming back from Lawrenceburg the procedure was reversed.
The bridge was taken out of service in 1980 (the power plant changed to trucks) and Wild Turkey was served straight from Lawrenceburg when the line was abandoned by NS in 1986. NS looked into having the bridge dismanteled but were quoted 1 MILLION to take it down (in 80's dollars) so they left it in place. They offered it to a museum that purchased the woodford county side of the line UP TO the bridge for tourist trains but they declined becuase of insurance. NS finally sold the bridge to a shell company around 2005 for $1 and the rights to remove the rails. The rails off the bridge and out to Lawrenceburg were taken up by a scrapper and the shell company bankrupted making them legal ghosts. Thus now the bridge isn't owned really by anyone.
The bridge structure itself looks fairly okay for something that been out in the weather for 120+ years. But thats just the parts you can see up close. God only knows what the joints holding the center section togther look like and I imagine alot of people haven't crawled out there to look. The bigger problem is the concrete footers which ARE showing their age and will eventually begin shifting. I've been told that a couple on the Woodford side have shifted and that county road crews have to keep an eye on them because this bridge towers right over the U.S. 62 bridge not a hundred yards away.
The bridge was taken out of service in 1980 (the power plant changed to trucks) and Wild Turkey was served straight from Lawrenceburg when the line was abandoned by NS in 1986. NS looked into having the bridge dismanteled but were quoted 1 MILLION to take it down (in 80's dollars) so they left it in place. They offered it to a museum that purchased the woodford county side of the line UP TO the bridge for tourist trains but they declined becuase of insurance. NS finally sold the bridge to a shell company around 2005 for $1 and the rights to remove the rails. The rails off the bridge and out to Lawrenceburg were taken up by a scrapper and the shell company bankrupted making them legal ghosts. Thus now the bridge isn't owned really by anyone.
The bridge structure itself looks fairly okay for something that been out in the weather for 120+ years. But thats just the parts you can see up close. God only knows what the joints holding the center section togther look like and I imagine alot of people haven't crawled out there to look. The bigger problem is the concrete footers which ARE showing their age and will eventually begin shifting. I've been told that a couple on the Woodford side have shifted and that county road crews have to keep an eye on them because this bridge towers right over the U.S. 62 bridge not a hundred yards away.
Wow!!
I wonder if any railfan with a 16mm ever caught this train movement?!
Interesting about the foundation shifting, I wonder if one were to sight along the bridge desk end to end if it still is straight or if there's a visible dip or deflection in the bridge?
I wonder if any railfan with a 16mm ever caught this train movement?!
Interesting about the foundation shifting, I wonder if one were to sight along the bridge desk end to end if it still is straight or if there's a visible dip or deflection in the bridge?
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