Florida East Coast Railway Bascule Bridge

In 1922, the Florida East Coast Railway contracted with the Strauss Bascule Bridge Company of Chicago for the construction of a twin-track bridge to replace the single-track swing-span bridge connecting Jacksonville with South Jacksonville.
The bridge is located in downtown Jacksonville, about a half-mile south of Jacksonville Terminal. It is situated where the St. Johns River turns sharply from northward flow to eastward to begin its short run through the downtown area. The bridge crosses about half-way through the turn. The channel of the river lies against the northern bank at this point. The St. Elmo Acosta bridge was just downstream from the railroad bridge. Jacksonville is only about 20 miles inland, and the river consequently has tides, which must be accounted for in bridge design.
Information text copyright 1997, E W Wall. URL:
http://users.ipa.net/~ewall/fecbr.htm
The whine squeal sound at the end is a "Conley" Joint swiping during last few inches of closure.
New Information from: TripleHead09 - "Technically called a 'cast-manganese, two-piece miter rail' ; which is manufactured by the Conley Frog/Switch and Forge Company of Memphis, TN (please note correct spelling for "Conley"). Since Conley Frog/Switch and Forge was the first company to patent this particular design of miter rail in the early 1950s, the railroad industry generically refers to the cast-manganese type as a "Conley joint".
Thank-you, TripleHead09.
This video was filmed by me, alectricfoxx, on 27 AUG 08 with Sony HDR SR-11 Digital Video Camera, original AVCHD Format. Facing East on North side of Bascule (Concrete support of Acosta Bridge can be seen on left) =^.^=

Category:

Education

Tags:

• railroad
• St. John's River
• alectricfoxx

[MySuperfly7]

THIS IS AWESOME! CAN I GET SOME THUMBS UP??? :D :D :D

FIRST

[TVRM610]

I saw this bridge operate when my school's marching band went to perform at the Gator Bowl in 2008/2009. I saw it from Jacksonville Landing, and it looked bigger than it really is. I thought it was a CSX Bridge.

[partyhouse88]

great vid

[alectricfoxx]

TripleHead09, The important information about the Jacksonville Rail Bascule Bridge and the Conley Frog/Switch that you sent to me has been included with the description of the Florida East Coast Bridge video that I uploaded. Thank you so much for your added input. I wrote that it was you as TripleHead09 who provided this necessary information. If you need more recognition, it is well warranted. Thanks, again. =^.^=