THE MEMPHIS BUFF
VOLUME 39, ISSUE 5
NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
May 2012
Special Event:Tennessee Central Fall Foliage Trip
The Great Bridge's Birthday
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Memphis Chapter Officers President – Walter Lang
walterhlang@yahoo.com
Vice President – Bruce Smedley Director – Bill Strong Secretary/Treasurer – Thomas Doherty Program Co-chairman – Carl Lancaster Program Co-chairman – Don Weis Yahoo Group Co-ordinater – Terry Redeker Newsletter Editor – Tom Parker
williambstrong@bellsouth.net TRDoherty@aol.com DBWeis@aol.com tkredeker@hotmail.com tscottparker@gmail.co
Minutes of the April 5 Meeting The meeting was held at the Germantown Library on Thursday 5 April 2012. Next months meeting will be at the Germantown Library on Thursday May 10 @ 7 P.M. The Chapter voted to donate $1000 to the Memphis Trolley and Railroad Museum. Tom Parker is recovering for his surgery and we wish him a speedy recovery. Michael Jack gave a report on the Illinois Central Historical Society annual meeting to be held in Greenville, MS Aug 2 to 4. For additional informational go to: http://www.icrrhistorical.org/2012_annual_meeting.html Bill Strong gave a report on the NC&StL annual meeting to be held in Jackson, TN on May 2 to 4 additional information see: http://ncstl.com/events/2012/details.html
BIG EVENT The Chapter will sponsor a group trip on Oct 6 for the 216 mile round trip from Nashville to Monterey on the Tennessee Central Super Fall Foliage Trip to standing stone festival. The Chapter will pay the first class fare for members in good standing (paid 2012 dues). You have to make your reservation through Tom Doherty with a refundable $25 deposit. You will get your $25 back when you show up on the 6 th. RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE BY Jul 27. If you wish to take guests with you we will make their reservation at the group rate of $62 at the same time, you must include their fare plus your $25 refundable deposit when making your reservation. Members are responsible for their own transportation to and from Nashville as well as lodging in Nashville. We need a minimum of 16 people to get the group rate. The train boards at 7:30 A.M., depart at 8 A.M. and will return to Nashville between 6 & 7 P.M. Any questions call Tom Doherty @ (901) 754-1674 Mail deposits/reservations to: Tom Doherty 2235 Coachmans Dr Germantown, TN 38138-4111 Make checks payable to NRHS-Memphis Chapter.
“Bridges” mural at the Memphis Railroad & Trolley Museum
Photo by Glenda Parker
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Frisco Bridge Observes 120th Birthday May 12, 2012 May 12, 2012, marks the 120th anniversary of the first train to cross the Frisco Bridge, called the “Great Bridge� when it was built. Following is an article from the New York Times describing the event:
MEMPHIS'S GREAT BRIDGE FORMALLY OPENED TO TRAFFIC YESTERDAY THOUSANDS OF VISITORS, A GREAT PROCESSION, AND AN ORATION By SENATOR VOORHEES -THE SPAN, OVER THE MISSISSIPPI. MEMPHIS, Tenn., May 12.-Today with impressive ceremonies, the great steel bridge over tbe Mississ1ppi River at this point was formally declared opened for traffic. For twenty-four hours railroads and steamboats had been emptying people into Memphis, and the crowd of visitors which to-day thronged the city and congregated about the great bridge to witness the ceremonies was estimated at
30,000. The city never before presented such a gala appearance. The decoration of business houses was never s0 elaborate, and the Stars and Stripes floated from every cornice and window of the down-town buildings. The gunboat Concord, gayly bedecked with flags from stem to stern, raised her anchors and steamed slowly down stream toward the bridge amid a great din of whistles from the steamers at the levee. The river craft had been handsomely decorated. The festivities of the day began with a parade which started from down town at 10 o'clock. A detachment of mounted police cleared the way and the procession which followed was imposing. The Visiting and city militia acting as escort to the distinguished guests of the day, in carriages, led the way. Following these were the Fire Department of Memphis, with engines and carts gayly decorated, and 100 floats, illustrative of the products and manufactures of the Mississippi Valley. The procession was about two hours in passing, and after traversing the business portion of the city, proceeded to
Ribbon from the dedication of the Great Bridge on display at Memphis Railroad & Trolley Museum
the bridge, arriving shortly before 2 o'clock. George W. Morrison of Chicago, Chief Engineer of the great structure, began the ceremonies by giving a signal, and in a minute a procession of eighteen locomotives moved
4 upon the bridge. Senator Voorhees of Indiana delivered the oration or the day. It dealt chiefly with the wisdom. patriotism, and foresight of Jefferson in the acquiring of Louisiana, the glorious results which had been accomplished, the growth ot the South within the last thirty years, its still brighter future. and finally predicted that the time was not far distant when the barrier to the navigation or the two oceans would be removed. The bridge opened to-day was built by the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham Railroad Company. It is situated on the spot where Ferdinand De Soto crossed the Mississippi in 1541, and in excavating for the shore pier on the Tennessee side some Spanish halberds, supposed to have been used by him, were found. The bridge is the Spanish third largest of its Halberd kind in the world. Active work upon it began in the Fall of 1888, when the first caissons were sunk. There are five spans and six piers, including the anchorage pier. The east shore, or cantilever
span is 225.83 feet; the main Span, consisting of two cantilever arms and one intermediate span, is 794.42 feet; One continuous span 621.06, and one deck span 338.75 feet, making a total length or 2.597.12 feet in the bridge proper. The structure is extended west of the main bridge by an iron viaduct 2,500 feet in length, followed by a 3,100-foot timber trestle, and nearly a mile of embankment to a Junction With the existing track of the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memph1s Railroad, a few hundred feet west of Sibley, Ark. The river piers are sunk to depths varying from 75 to 131 feet below high water mark. All were sunk by the pnumatic caisson process, and are of masonry from the caissons to the bridge seats. The material of the main bridge is steel. The main posts a 80 feet high and weigh 28 tons. Many of the pieces weigh 10, 12, and 16 tons. The main pin of the cantilever truss is 14 1nches in diameter and weighs 2,200 pounds. A stee1 plate resting on the first pier from the Memphis side and coming out at the top is the largest steel plate ever made in the United States. This plate
reaches from tbe supports under the bridge to the extreme top and from side to side, being open at the centre, and through this aperture traffic passes.
An early photo of a steam engine crossing the Great Bridge. Note decking to allow vehicular traffic when not used by trains. Bill Strong Collection
Library of Congress photo - C.B. Fraser Photographer - August, 1985
CABOOSE
IC Terminal Caboose 8081 – Woodstock Tennessee, April 1954 Bill Strong Collection Meeting Schedule May 10, 2012 June 14, 2012 July 12, 2012 August 2, 2012 September 13, 2012 October 9, 2012 November 13, 2012 December 6, 2012 Germantown Public Library 7-9 pm. 1925 Exeter Road Germantown, TN 38138
Contact the Editor Tom Parker 3012 Wood Thrush Drive Memphis, TN 38134 tscottparker@gmail.co