Passenger Trains > Barge sinks after it strikes Thebes railroad bridge

This item is only here because of last week's events.

While the Thebes Bridge is on a freight-only route (UP
Chester Subdivision), just last week it was a detour for
the Amtrak Texas Eagle when its normal route between St.
Louis and Poplar Bluff on the UP Desoto Subdivision was
closed by high water and flash flooding.
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Barge sinks after it strikes a railroad bridge
Southeast Missourian
Monday, July 6, 2015

> At 10:20 a.m., a motor vessel struck a concrete pier of the Thebes
> railroad bridge in Thebes, Illinois.
>
> Derek Wilson's restaurant, The Riverhouse, sits near the bridge in
> Scott County. He said he was there Saturday when the towboat struck
> the bridge.
>
> After the towboat struck the pier, Wilson said he saw the barges it
> was towing come apart, with some heading down river. One partially
> sank in the water.
>
> Because it was a railroad bridge, the bridge was shut down and
> inspected after the collision, said Mark Davis, director of
> corporations and media relations for Union Pacific Railroad Co.

Article with photo:

Barge sinks after it strikes a railroad bridge



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/15 16:57 by GenePoon.

Wonder what was in the barge that sank?

Apparently not the kind of information the report thinks would be of interest....

/Mitch

Or the owner released...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Dallying over a few cups of coffee and the morning paper in Fort Smith, AR likely kept me from driving into the Arkansas River while westbound on I-40 the morning of 26May2002.  I-40 had just been closed when I got to Exit-291.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-40_bridge_disaster

The sinking barge contains grain. History shows this bridge has been struck more times than the lighting rod on Grandpa's barn!

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This item is only here because of last week's
> events.


Why wouldn't you just post this to the Western board?

Using this logic, any piece of track that has ever hosted a passenger train would be relevant to the Passenger board.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/15 07:59 by toledopatch.