Back in December 2014, I posted some information about Bridge 13.44 over the IHB at Congress Park, and made some assumptions about the westbound grade that existed between Grossdale and LaGrange prior to raising the grade for construction of the bridge.
Charlie Vlk pointed out, correctly, that my assumptions were incorrect, and I have kept his response attached below.
Since then, I have had an opportunity to look at the bridge plans again in the BNSF office in Kansas City. I was disappointed to not find any plans of the raising of the original bridge at any time. I did find details of the original seat stones on top of the original piers, which averaged 18" in depth.
So I recalculated the original grades based on lowering the current elevation of the bridge by 12 feet instead of 8.5'. Based on this, the westward grade from a point east of Maple Avenue to the east end of the bridge would have been 0.13%, and from the bridge to LaGrange Road would have been 0.81%. If the difference between the current and original elevations exceeded 12' (which it very well could have), then the grade from the bridge to LaGrange Road would have been worse.
Based on the grade being a minimum of 0.81%, it is then safe to say that this stretch of grade rivaled or exceeded (in percentage) the westbound grades between Wyanet and Neponset. Whether it was long enough to rank as the ruling grade, I can't say, because this would have depended on the train length at that time. Regardless, the testimony from the CB&Q at the time of the CH&W/CB&Q dispute certainly appears to be justified if not totally accurate.
Glen Haug
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
From: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2014 16:39:03 -0600
Subject: RE: [CBQ] IHB Undercrossing at Congress Park
Glen-
Thanks for the information. I think the calculations are off if you used the current or even post- 1960 figures for the bridge elevation. At some point the bridges were raised over the IHB from their original position.
The IHB undercut a number of the tracks under the spans to accommodate autoracks in the late 1950s/early 1960s.
The tracks in front of the Congress Park Station was originally even with the floor level of the station. When the CH&W was extended north of the CB&Q the track was raised in front of the station necessitating a number of steps up to the platform/track level. The switch for the South interchange track was at that time west of the front of the station. After a wreck in 1918 destroyed the front of the station a subway under the tracks was installed to provide access to the platforms and the mains and interchange track were raised to clear the subway. It may be at that time the bridge was raised. I would guess that the concrete caps on top of the original stone piers and abutments raised the bridge a good 3-4 feet.
The testimony from the CB&Q at the time of the CH&W/CB&Q dispute over crossing at grade stated that the run up to LaGrange was the ruling grade on the CB&Q east of the Mississippi and that trains would not be able to make it up the grade after having to stop for traffic if there was an interlocking at that point.
I have an early (1917 or so) AW Johnson photo taken at the bridge which shows it in its original configuration.
Thanks,
Charlie Vlk
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