Behind a matched trio of “Building America” dressed GE AC4400s, Union Pacific empty coal train CBPBT9 05 crawls across the frozen waters of the mighty Mississippi River atop the vertical lift bridge at Roberts St deep in the urban scene of St. Paul. This train came off the Altoona Subdivision at Division St following close behind light engine move EALSSG 05 after both waiting there for an eastbound BNSF grain load out of Northtown. These empty NSPX marked aluminum coal hoppers originated to the east at XCEL Energy's Allen S. King power plant off the banks of the St. Croix River in Bayport, MN and are headed for loading at the large Black Thunder coal mine in Wyoming's Powder River Basin. Built by the Chicago Great Western Railroad in 1913 and designed by Waddell & Harrington, an American engineering company, this lift bridge is one of four in the country that span across the Mississippi River along with CP's Hastings Bridge in Hastings, MN, BNSF's Burlington Bridge in Burlington, IA and Norfolk Southern's Wabash Bridge in Hannibal, MO. This structure stretches 940 feet in length and has a pair of 105-foot tall towers that features an electrical system allowing the bridge to raise another 37 feet in the air allowing for boat passage. The year 1997 found the river rising to levels that touched the bottom of the span causing Union Pacific to spot a string of loaded rock cars purposed to help anchor down the bridge to prevent a wash away incident. Behind it is the Robert St road bridge that opened in 1926 after a two-year building by Fegles Construction Co. that features a unique concrete arch design masterminded by Toltz, King & Day, an architectural and engineering firm located in the state. It spans nearly 1535 feet long and carries South Robert Street and its vehiclular traffic 62 feet high over the Mississippi. This shot was definitely on the “to-do list” while visiting the Twin Cities but with the slim amount of traffic that uses this bridge, we weren’t getting our hopes up. Luck, usually opposite of us, was on our side today and we were able to glass this move soaked in perfect evening light before heading for home, satisfied.
