TRRS 532: BNSF's Fort Madison Swing Bridge

[@crupert23225]

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.

[@gabriella319]

This is my hometown, It is also great for railfanning because it has an average of 127 trains every day and I heard one honk while I made this comment!

[@rainbowrunner1550]

I drove across this bridge with my parents in August 2021. We were visiting my sister in Springfield, Illinois, and before flying home, we wanted to visit Nauvoo. So we did so, plus went across the Mississippi River into Fort Madison for lunch. That added Iowa to my list of states I've visited.

[@Mario_Gillette]

I lived in Fort Madison, Iowa for a while and got to travel the bridge many times. You forgot to mention though that The double-decker bridge, about 1 mile (1.6 km) long with a swing span of 525 feet (160 m), was the longest and largest double-deck swing-span bridge in the world.

[@mcdaid..]

My lady died on 25 2 23, at age 73 this was her fav bridge also that long loop can't remember name , she is at rest in our living room , I play vids like these for her every day , thankyou. A rail road widower in plymouth devon .

[@vidcam]

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.

[@robertnewberry8977]

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.

[@rodk.3569]

Thanks that was a great show. Americana at its best.

[@Tiffy552]

Compliments the Virtual Railfan camera perfectly, thankyou very interesting.

[@johngullo9420]

Great video! I check the VRF Fort Madison site numerous times a day. Don’t see anything like this here in New Jersey.

[@petermiller9712]

I'm in Australia I found your video very interesting and you are very informative great stuff

[@awoimorf]

I've been over that bridge countless times, that's my home town, I really appreciate Fort Madison getting some rail fan attention.

[@dannymccarty6680]

Ft. Madison is a rail fan’s freak show with awesome river barge traffic for a backdrop. I’ve taken a Google Maps street level virtual tour and get the sense that the community has a lot of civic pride as shown by how historic homes and structures are handsomely maintained and neighborhoods are beautifully groomed. I think I’d love living there BUT, having lived in San Antonio for more than 70 years I know I don’t have the wiring to endure the winter weather. Congrats to dirtcheapjeep - obviously he does! :-)

[@844SteamFan]

Virtual Railfan has a camera here.

[@HMMELD]

I have too - lived close by 5 miles away - worked in Ft Madison at one time. Been all up and down the river, so much that I took it for granted, never really figured to the bridge to be a great engineering feat or iconic or anything like that. Stopped any number of times waiting on barges, boats of all shapes/sizes. I am amazed, however, how they coordinate all the river traffic and train traffic, considering how hard it is to stop one of those trains going nearly 100. My brother worked on a barge at one time.

[@gabrielreliat907]

Impressionnant et superbe. Rien de plus...

[@jonny7dreamin]

Absolutely; cracking video, thanks for posting it. ❤👍

[@victoryfirst2878]

Thank you for showing us a piece of history that is still in use. Good day and make more videos too.

[@espeescotty]

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.

[@ThornappleRiverRailSeries]

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.

[@punchfisttop]

Was just wondering if it was a double so thank you man! AMAZING bridge!

[@algrayson8965]

@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries - Double tracking was very common in the 1800s due to poor communications and signaling as compared with the 20th century.

[@69dblcab]

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.

[@kddaniels5965]

thanks much for the video. would have seen this awesome.

[@cliffleigh7450]

An excellent video covering all aspects of the bridge operation! The double stacked containers sure don't appear to have much clearance.

[@trainrover]

I'm wondering how Edwardian thinking there must have brought about such a generous loading guage.

[@brandtfj]

good thing they built the bridge with plenty of height clearance, today's double stack trains have clearance.... also its amazing the amount of weight on the center pilings in the middle of the river....it seems the bridge weight could just push those pilings right down into the bottom.... what great engineering!!!!!!

[@warrencaudle4378]

I have been on this bridge a few times. In September 2016, I had the privilege of being the only vehicle eastbound. I got out and took quite a few pictures. There was a southbound on the ex-BN waiting, as was an eastbound. Got a couple of shots of the prison also. Only until the barge was through, did another vehicle show up. Sun was setting, gorgeous views of the Mighty Mississippi River indeed. Excellent video, as usual!

[@borisbentley2296]

amazing. great video. love as always. thx so much.

[@normanchristin1923]

I have been across this bridge as well, but on Amtrak's Southwest Chief

[@HMMELD]

I've been on that bridge so many times I took it for granted and it was quite annoying, actually, when you're in a rush and had to wait on it.

[@DaringDramis]

The Virtual Railfan channel is streaming a live cam on KZbin at this location since yesterday (June 26th 2020), and I've learned about the existence of that bridge within that live cam. I wanted to see the bridge in action, and your video is the very first result when searching on KZbin, and for some good reason, because you can't hardly showcase it any better. Excellent job!

[@ThornappleRiverRailSeries]

Wow, cool to hear! I’ll have to check that out. Glad to be a good primer on the bridge and area for you and others!

[@danielsharon524]

Never seen a normally closed swing bridge or one that carried both both vehicular and rail traffic. Great vid. & love your narration.

[@bobherrell9202]

Thank you for this video. We have crossed this bridge twice on Amtrak in May 2019.

[@HaraldFinster]

What a beautiful bridge! I do really like your video: silent, focused on the main subject and without any unnecessary or distracting "special effects". Thank you very much for sharing. Harald

[@toddedwards7909]

lived in ft Madison all my life. it's an awesome bridge

[@glendenig9962]

What an engineering marvel! Great video!

[@ArchTeryx00]

That's a remarkable bridge and you did a great job of filming and narrating its operation. Drawbridges have always been a favorite of mine and this one's pretty much unique.

[@sherylbeasley4938]

I've got to admit,that was pretty interesting.

[@kc8rbk73]

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.

[@YYCRCFabricationz]

Very impressive! Really dig all the history & facts you speak of as well, makes the video all the better for it...great video!

[@GRUBEDGAM1]

Very impressive Bridge and Boat! Thanks a lot.

[@dannylittle6766]

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.

[@garysprandel1817]

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.

[@kens.3729]

An Overall Excellent Presentation. Thanks for Solid Content and an always Interesting Video. 👍

[@ThornappleRiverRailSeries]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@spikespa5208]

@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries My only wish is that you might make another vid using a drone. Outstanding presentation.

[@AndreiTupolev]

Excellent! I've been watching this on the railcam thingumijig, and it's nice to get a very good closeup view of it

[@MrMASSEYJONES]

Gorgeous video in every way. Most enjoyable, thanks a lot.

[@HMMELD]

I'm glad the announcer didn't talk constantly or make dumb jokes like so many do and let the pictures tell most of the story.

[@clarklindquist8137]

We need to see more videos like this one. Great video

[@rustyrailspikeproductions]

I love this video! After seeing one of your past videos on this bridge I put it on my rail fanning bucket list!

[@clayz1]

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.

[@clayz1]

. 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.

[@ThornappleRiverRailSeries]

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

[@iusetano]

Great video, editing and narration work. Excellent video Alex. Always enjoyable.

[@cialdolirafloriano1558]

Isso é um verdadeiro espetáculo.parabens pelo o vídeo

[@jimcook3672]

We crossed this bridge in October 2018 in our camper van. We were exploring the great river road, jumping from one side to the other as we went south. This bridge was on our bucket list. Did not get to see it in action, or even a train. Thanks for the video.

[@cherylday5270]

our America at work! TY for sharing

[@atlanticcoastexpress]

Excellent and informative , professional narration. Many thanks indeed! Additionally, I much appreciated the pauses between the facts you provided. I subscribed to you some time ago and I’m glad I did. We don’t have many road and rail combined bridges here in the UK but there was a famous one on the Ballachulish railway near Oban in The Scottish Highlands where road traffic was allowed to cross between trains (which weren’t very frequent) but after the railway closed in the early 1960s it became a road traffic only bridge over the treacherous tidal Falls of Lora (I think I’ve spelled it correctly). Thanks again, Rob.

[@tonypanzarella9387]

Now ... THIS is how to present a swing bridge video.

[@raincoast9010]

Thanks for the tour of that amazing structure.

[@BlLL_LUMBERGH]

Excellent commentary.

[@SuperRede4u]

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 KZbin.

[@CentralPennRailProductions]

Now THAT'S A bridge! Great video! Looks closely at 2:20 and you can see a PTC antenna on the top of the bridge.

[@bullmiller175]

PTC?

[@CentralPennRailProductions]

@@bullmiller175 Positive Train Control

[@w9gb]

I grew up on the Illinois side of this bridge, about 35 miles SE. The toll was 10 cents when I was a kid, but slowly raised. Iowa was a “dry state” until around 1963 - so the restaurants (with bars) were on the Illinois side :-)

[@stevenikitas8170]

A very cool bridge....

[@rainbownines]

Great video. Loved the style of it, and the picture quality is absolutely top drawer. Excellent stuff.

[@markhayes6407]

The bridge is really cool but that is some skill driving the tug thru the opening of the span.

[@Bobrogers99]

Pushing the barges, I don't know how they can steer (aim!) so well.

[@rvnmedic1968]

Great videography and clear narration. There's also a swing bridge in Mystic, CT. At least back in the late 90s. Cheers

[@BobbytheBongoPlaya]

We used to have a similar one here in MN between Newport/St. Paul Park and Inver Grove Heights. Pretty similar. Was a private toll bridge. No trains since '81, Car traffic stopped in '99 due to a bad pier. Then part of it collapsed in '08. The swing span was demolished but on the west side some of it was saved. Kind of sad because it was a hidden gem to me!

[@FlyToChina0071]

Another great video :-) The narration makes it double as good. Thanks for all the details. And as mentioned by other viewers what a "luck" is was build for double stack trains. BR Adam from Denmark

[@HMMELD]

I lived only about 5 miles away on the Mississippi - close enough that you could easily throw a stone from our front yard into the river. At the back of the property was the railroad. We really thought not much of it, but looking back on it the river view was pretty darn spectacular. You got used to the train noise, people coming over hearing it for the first time thought a tornado was coming thru the house, since it didn't take very long for trains to get to nearly 100.

[@internazisuite]

i wonder what it feels like in that control house when the train hits that swing area? anybody been up in there for that?

[@Jumpingoffthecliff]

Nice work. I filmed the Milwaukee Road swing bridge at LaCrosse WI. Pretty amazing how long these have been operating. I’m afraid they won’t be around too much longer so it’s great to see them now!

[@OhioValleyVideo]

Love the footage of the towboat & barges

[@timwilson8118]

Nice work.

[@rafaelfernandez8311]

Muy interesante y resuelve tres temas de transporte. Muy bien ilustrado. Muchas gracias

[@Its_just_Dave.]

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.

[@vetterfellow]

Excellent narration👍

[@arejay54]

Awesome bridge and excellent video!

[@bobanbooks1610]

Super bridge..

[@jackgibbons6013]

Beautiful bridge, and amazing its still in such heavy service. Unfortunately these things cant last forever, I wonder if the freight rail roads have been planning their long term infrastructure renewal.

[@spunbearing65]

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.

[@cowthedestroyer]

That's nothing being below it opening and closing multiple times is what's really interesting you get to see all the mechanisms at work and you get to see trains pass right over you. When the river is flooding you can actually touch the bottom of the bridge from a boat and feel the train a few feet away.

[@jessiemcfarland3666]

That was cool to watch.

[@kittiemuffins6609]

Excellent job. Where do I start? Great lingering scenes, awesome close-ups, silence where needed and good old-school narration. Sub'd! Nice also to see the barges, river industry!

[@Logan-ns7uj]

amazing bridge

[@danmathers141]

The bridge opening and closing is really cool! I wonder if river trafic sometimes stacks up to all go through at one opening.

[@cecedavis6155]

Hi Dan!! Hopefully that won't happen. Barge traffic has first priority!

[@kyle__riker]

I've never seen a train towing actually tractor trailers before. That's pretty cool, along with the bridge.

[@PushingThroughThePain]

You should also check out the Arsenal Island double decker train & car bridge in Davenport, IA. It's a sight to see!

[@jamesleopard8518]

2:00 When I was little, I used to get a toy wooden turntable bridge to add on my wooden train table

[@Tcostello105]

Enjoyed the video! Great narration indeed!

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

Very cool video,I have to get back out that way hopefully soon.Nicely done video.

[@wesleyhymbaugh1450]

This Is Great Watching The Fort Madison Iowa Swingbridge 😊😊😊 🚂🚂🚂

[@jerrydowse5061]

An impressive barge consist and bridge..some engineering.Thanks

[@scrappycat1647]

Wow ! THAT'S a big bridge. I'm surprised that it can handle double stacks. Thanks for sharing !

[@TheNomadicRailfan]

Great video as always. Nice work.

[@auntred1926]

great video thank you for posting

[@louisbecker5941]

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.

[@ThornappleRiverRailSeries]

Pretty much!

[@МихаилИванов-ж1ь4з]

Полёт инженерных мыслей не знает границ.👍

[@davidcoleman958]

Fort Madison is such a good hotspot. I watch the railcam here once in a while! How many trains run per day there?

[@alinina2167]

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

[@mgk920]

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.

[@eezyclsmooth9035]

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 ?

[@ThornappleRiverRailSeries]

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.

[@eezyclsmooth9035]

@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries Much Abliged. I have NEVER seen a railfan channel better than yours!

[@wastemanagementfan1161]

wow he's really fighting that current

[@Train538]

Fantastic video!!!

[@JTC2227]

That's Awesome

[@12121149]

Amazing Bridge,and that Tug is hauling ass against the current,Wow.

[@Miner-49]

Tow not Tug.

[@stevendyer6509]

There is also a swing bridge for the BNSF in Burlington Iowa

[@ThornappleRiverRailSeries]

Several years ago that old bridge was actually replaced with a new state-of-the-art lift bridge.

[@IcelanderUSer]

It’s amazing how low the bridge is to the water.

[@ThornappleRiverRailSeries]

It's quite high - the bridge is just so big it looks low, and this is also a wide spot in the river. There's a good 15' of clearance in this video, and the river level is up a good 5' or so from typical late-spring levels.

[@chuckmvs]

Thats one big ass swing bridge!

[@midwestrailfan3244]

I live in fort madison great video by the way

[@granskare]

there is a similar bridge at the Rock Island Arsenel, built, I believe, in 1898.

[@westmibaddrivers2573]

excellent, only thing missing is an overhead view with a Drone, showing it opening and closing (fast play).

[@boatshaper]

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.

[@minecraftster50]

BoatShaper It is possible as the swing sits very close to the shore.

[@thebassanoalbertatrainspot8612]

This bridge is very cool and awesome