RE: [CBQ] Hannibal Bridge

[GLEN HAUG <glenehaug@msn.com>]

Thanks, Rupert.  It was fun to read about this bridge.  Hannibal is my home town.  A couple things are interesting about the map and rendering.  When this bridge was built, there was no StLK&NW yet.  It was not constructed into Hannibal until 1874.  The H&StJ does show on the map, of course, since it had existed at Hannibal since 1857.  Also the ferry is shown.  Once there were cars, this railroad bridge served as a combination railroad/vehicle bridge until 1936 when the Mark Twain Memorial Bridge was built downstream closer to downtown.
 
Although the Mississippi River is generally considered to be 1/2 mile wide or so once it reaches NE Iowa, it is considerably narrower than that at Hannibal.  At the railroad bridge, the river is barely 1,600' wide, and it is less than 2,100' wide at the location of the now replaced 1936 highway bridge.  This makes the current faster, and the river is extremely dangerous to swim in.
 
The rendering is drawn from the Illinois side, looking upstream.  The drawspan is on the Missouri side, and the bluff on the Missouri side above the bridge and tunnel is where Riverview Park is today.  You can stand directly above the tunnel in the park, and watch trains cross the bridge, and in the winter, you can see the trains exit the east end of the tunnel as they curve to the south to enter downtown Hannibal.
 
The CB&Q (the BNSF today) crosses the Wabash (now NS) on a 90 degree diamond at the west end of the bridge and east of the tunnel.  You used to be able to drive to the west end of the bridge, and this was one of my favorite spots to watch the northbound Zephyr Rocket in the evening as it pulled out of Hannibal in the late 1950's.  The speed on the BNSF across the diamond is 30 mph today, but the ZR could hit the diamond at between 60 and 70 mph even though it was less than a mile north of downtown.
 
Glen Haug
 

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To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
From: gamlenz@ihug.co.nz
Date: Tue, 29 May 2012 10:31:08 +1200
Subject: [CBQ] Hannibal Bridge

 

There is an in-depth article about the Hannibal Bridge constructed in 1871, including an engraving of the bridge (after the blank page), at http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?view=image;size=125;id=mdp.39015013053544;page=root;seq=207;num=181

(You'll probably need to copy and paste this address rather than just click on it)

Rupert Gamlen
Auckland NZ

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