1873 International Swing Bridge at Ft. Erie/Blackrock still works today!

Рет қаралды 34,625

Күн бұрын

Built in 1873 the International Swing Bridge colossus at Black Rock/Ft. Erie still swings with the precision of a Swiss watch!
Even the passage of modern heavy freight trains haven't dampened her movement one bit.
Watch to the end as the locking mechanism rails move into place.

Пікірлер: 38

@richarddombrowski5199 6 жыл бұрын

My grandfather was a police officer for the railroad during the depression era and would walk this bridge looking for smugglers. He would meet a Canadian police officer in the middle. Great video thanks!

@jerrysinclair3771 7 жыл бұрын

''Watch to the end as the locking mechanism rails move into place.'' This is the best vid I have seen with the locking mechanism activated. Of course most videos are not shot with precision closeup cameras and you had permission to shoot this detailed video. Thank you.

@klbird 5 жыл бұрын

Always good to see old technology still performing a needed function.

@carmenmonoxide7459 5 жыл бұрын

Oh, WOW. Seeing the mechanism connecting the rails was edifying. Getting a close up view was really satisfying. There's a swing bridge where I live and I only caught glimpses of it crossing a freeway overpass. Sometimes it's connected, sometimes it's not.

@paulplaganis5429 3 ай бұрын

Worked on Livingston avenue bridge in Albany Rensselaer for twenty years. Bridge still in operation. 😊

@bullsboat1 3 жыл бұрын

Damn.....American ingenuity!!!!

@dionkelly8420 5 жыл бұрын

Kind of eery seeing something that big swivel into place, and get lined up exactly straight before the other rails lock it into place.

@waltereturner Жыл бұрын

Very cool. Thank you for posting it!

@JebbAdams 3 жыл бұрын

Excellent work tprdfh51! Great quality vid! Cheers Mate!

@tprdfh51 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Mikey!😊

@FurthermoreJack Жыл бұрын

Spectacular and magnificent

@iminnow123 3 жыл бұрын

I worked there as the telegraph operator and bridge operator in 1969 .

@garthmcgibbon4285 Жыл бұрын

I’ll bet you have some stories to tell! My friend was hired to dismantle Fort Erie shops. Such a tragedy!

@royreynolds108 5 жыл бұрын

The locking mechanism bars beside the rails do two things: 1. they lock the bridge from turning and keep the rails in line; 2. they are slightly higher in the center third raising the train wheels off the rails to go over the gaps so the rail ends are not battered by the wheels. We do not get to see the mechanism that stabilizes the ends and carries the weight when trains cross.

@tprdfh51 3 жыл бұрын

They do no such thing...speed over the bridge is 5mph - just saying!

@gaugebrady5416 5 жыл бұрын

Mom that bridge is moving

@Weeklydoseofrailways Жыл бұрын

Nice video... Can I use this video in my train compilation video credit to you in video will be given

@tprdfh51 Жыл бұрын

Yes...you may use this video in your weekly compilation video - cheers!

@WeazelJaguar 3 жыл бұрын

Is that ever cool! I want one! Maybe we can get the swing bridge in Port Colborne to work again, And rename it: "A Bridge To Nowhere!"

@buffalobob7172 3 жыл бұрын

I use to go to Port Colborne every other year in August when the lake was the warmest I learned to swim,ski fish,sail and dive the beach would come and go The town was so very clean yards an flowers nice My aunt and uncle lived on lake all spring and summer His dad bought in the 1940s I started going in the late 1950s The last time went was a few weeks before 9-11 We went to the Falls all most every time grate times im 66 now still live in Alabama my aunt still going in her 90s

@a914freak 8 жыл бұрын

This may sound like a stupid question, but why is there a swing RR bridge over top of a roadway??? Overheight trucks?

@tprdfh51 8 жыл бұрын

The swing bridge is actually for the Black Rock Canal...there is an older swing bridge on the main channel of the Niagara River but it has not been used since the 1940's.

@a914freak 8 жыл бұрын

+tprdfh51 so I'm guessing the canal must be on the other end?

@tprdfh51 8 жыл бұрын

This is part of the Erie Barge Canal at Buffalo/Ft. Erie.

@timothybarney7257 5 жыл бұрын

@@a914freak Yes, the far end of the swing bridge span is over the canal/Black Rock Locks.