milwaukee road/new york central joint trackage

The milwaukee road had a line that ran from medota Illinois to Depue, Illinois and at Depue they interchanged with the NYC and Rock Island RR, they also used NYC trackage to go to the Steel plant near Hennipen Illinois. At one time there was a long single track viaduct which led to what was called the 3-I bridge that crossed the Illinois river. Does anybody know where there is any information/blueprints/pictures of this bridge? I would like to model it and it seems to be really hard to find historical evidence of it.

Where was the bridge?

I found it. Illinois River MM 213.8 a Day mark still exists.

I know of a few pictures in books...

"Rails Across the Land" by RG Bluemer has a few shots from the sides

"Railroad Bridges in the Heartland" by Stanley Chagnon has some better close up shots.

You can see it some old aerial photos taken in the late 30s early 40s at this website:

http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/nsdihome/webdo ... index.html

Other than that, maybe the Bureau County Historical Society, or LaSalle Peru News Tribune may have some more pictures in their archives, etc.

Maybe the NYCHS has something? It's an old bridge, but was rebuilt in the mid 1960s after a barge hit it and it burned.

The bridge near Depue is long gone. Only the large concrete abutments are left, on the banks. (I was told you can drive to the north side over a dirt road.) The MILW used the bridge and NYC trackage to cross the Illinois River to connect with its lines to Oglesby and McNabb; I think it was coal mines that provided the bulk of the traffic, till they closed. The MILW connected with the NYC at Ladd, where the NYC also met the CB&Q and LS&BC. There's a map at this link: http://www.trainweb.org/lsbc/map.html

rlsteam wrote:The bridge near Depue is long gone. Only the large concrete abutments are left, on the banks. (I was told you can drive to the north side over a dirt road.) The MILW used the bridge and NYC trackage to cross the Illinois River to connect with its lines to Oglesby and McNabb; I think it was coal mines that provided the bulk of the traffic, till they closed. The MILW connected with the NYC at Ladd, where the NYC also met the CB&Q and LS&BC. There's a map at this link: http://www.trainweb.org/lsbc/map.html

rlsteam wrote:The bridge near Depue is long gone. Only the large concrete abutments are left, on the banks. (I was told you can drive to the north side over a dirt road.)

Bring your 4 Wheeler, the road is an axle buster. I was on it 2 years ago.