Wrecked Freight Cars . . . ditched in the derailment were thrown and pushed from the right-of-way. The accident occurred just south of the Honey Creek interchange of I-29.
Clearing Right Of Way . . . at the scene of the Illinois Central derailment Sunday 12 miles north of Council Bluffs, work crews ready the grade for laying new rails. Empty boxcars have been dozed to either side of torn-out track section.
Henry Watkins, 3437 Eighth Ave., a switchman, and K.J. Buhman, 310 Park Ave., engineer, Friday stand picket duty at Thirteenth Street and Avenue G. About 26 members of United Transportation Union Local 520 have joined some 4,000 workers in 14 states…
Trains, like the one at top, have steamed across this bridge for nearly nine decades. It is the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad swing bridge. The Council Bluffs span was built in 1893. A second span, on the Omaha side, was built in 1904 when the…
Manning the entrance of one of two swing bridges in the United States is Bernardo Benavides. The Council Bluffs span was built in 1893, and the Omaha side was built later when the river changed course. Only the Council Bluffs side is used today.
Oiling The Gears . . . in the bridge operating house is Bernardo Benavides, 2000 Fourth Ave., who has been working on the bridge for many years. Power for the swing starts in the operating house and is transmitted to the turntables through heavy…
Many Wheels . . . allow the bulky swing sections to turn on the piers that rest on bedrock. Illinois Central Trainmaster John Moran explained that the weight of the 75 foot wide bridge is not known.
The Illinois Central Missouri River swing bridge is one of only three of its type in the United States and has been serving the railroad since 1893. The first swing span was built on the Iowa side in 1893, but a change in the river channel forced the…
The old Illinois Central railroad bridge on the north edge of Council Bluffs has been a swinger for nearly a century. This old photo (top) shows ladies with parasols crossing the bridge on foot. Below, a bridge tender uses the same route but for a…
A Bird's Eye View...of the Christian Home was painted on a postcard years ago. Most of the brick homes pictured have been removed although the Home is still on the same site near downtown Council Bluffs.