Meramec River Crossing - Bridge 18.2 - Valley Park, MO, MP 17.9 - Rolla Subdivision

I do not remember when the double track was taken up.

I am guessing early fifties but would have to go digging.

The end of double track was at the west end of Pacific and if you look at it in Google Earth, you can still see the slight "crick" in the track to align it.

The Times Beach (Eureka) and Valley Park were both double track.

The little short trestle in West Pacific still has foundations for the second main track.

Frisco crossed the Meramec at Valley Park, Eureka, Pacific and Moselle.

The Pacific crossing is at the very west end of Pacific.

 

The 2nd main (south/eastbound track) from Southeastern Jct. to Valley Park was built in 1922 and is still in service.

From Valley Park to Pacific the 2nd main, north/westbound track, was built in 1923 and is still in service.

The south/eastbound main was abandoned in 1952 except at Eureka and Pacific where the 2nd main remained for sidings.

The 2nd main between West Valley Park to Morschel's was re-installed in 1959 to serve the new Fenton Chrysler plant and is still in service today.

As for the reason it was abandoned I believe Frisco just did not need it, CTC had been recently installed and traffic levels at the time did not support maintaining 2 main lines over 2 major river crossing.

They did the same thing from Turrell to Clarkdale, AR the next year.

As for determining which main line came up that was easy, the construction techniques of the 1920s were much superior to when the original main was constructed in 1882/1883.

Plus the new main was further away from the Meramec River Bluffs around Menke reducing the chances of landslides so the original main was lifted.

As for the appearance of the Meramec River bridge piers, when the new main was constructed the new pier was concrete molded onto the existing single track stone piers resulting in a weird looking half concrete, half stone double track pier.

As for the structural integrity of the piers I doubt very much if this is an issue.

On the route I run over between Newton & Ellinor on the old ATSF there are many of the original stone and mortar culverts remaining from when the line was built in the 1870s.

They were built to last and are probably stronger and in better shape than the later concrete models.

My 2 cents.

Roger

 

Don,

Do you have the exact date of this photograph?

The reason I ask is because I found a discrepancy in the Frisco employee Eastern Division timetables regarding the double track and signal system west of Valley Park.

1947-May-01 shows the double track in service + OBS between Pacific and Dillon, MO.
1947-September-29 shows the double track gone + CTC between Valley Park and Newburg.
1950-April-30 shows the double track in service + OBS between Pacific and Coffeyton
1952-March-02 shows the double track gone + CTC between Valley Park and Newburg.

Now I have yet to see a employee timetable put out without a mistake but this one is a big boo-boo.

Any idea which one is correct?

Roger

 

I checked those but the 1950 posted on this site was scanned bad, the block system info was cut off in the middle.

The 9/29/47 Item 7 shows CTC in place from Valley Park-Newburg and so does the 1952 timetable.

I was trying to verify when the double track was removed and when CTC was installed when I noticed this.

The Helm-Bond, Swedeborg-St. John & Sleeper-East Lebanon double track was definitely removed summer 1947, so I doubt Frisco would have taken these up without installing CTC first.

Roger

 

Here are three more pics of the existing Meramec River bridge at Valley Park, MO on the Frisco's Eastern Division. The bridge is at MP 18.2.

These are the June, 1984 pictures I referred to in my 2009 postings up above in this thread.

As others have noted above, it is not clear if the existing bridge is a stronger replacement of one of the two original spans, the second original span having been removed, or if it is simply the original span reinforced or rebuilt.

There is not much room left on the bridge piers upon this which this bridge, and the earlier original bridges, rested, for a second bridge of the heft of what is there now.

Ken