Eastern Railroad Discussion > White River flooding on CSX in Southern Indiana

The White River near Hazelton, IN crested yesterday at 30'. This is approaching 1913 & 1937 flood levels. I took the drone down to Decker, IN and shot a very late I026 crossing the White River bridge. The water is up to the bottom of the bridge but so far still holding her own.
I have attached a map of the area. Yellow arrow is the CSX bridge over the White River. Red arrow is the washout bridge south of the main river bridge. Green arrow is the OLD US 41 bridge over the White River with the main 4 lane US 41 bridge off to the left.
The first photo was taken yesterday and the second photo taken 8-15-21. Both photos are looking north towards Decker, IN.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/25 15:38 by CSX2605.

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First two photos are of the deck bridge and the through truss bridge taken yesterday. Third photo was taken 8-15-21 looking at the deck bridge.

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First photo is looking south towards the washout bridge. The last two photos are of the washout bridge taken 4-3-22. I wasn't brave enough to fly all the way down there and get some photos but I can only imagine how high the water level is down there.
Per a C&EI article: 
The washout bridge was built as a result of the 1913 flood which took out a 1,700' portion of track. In 1916 & 1917 eleven hundred feet of trestle was filled with earth & mine refuse, dumped from cars standing on the treslte. A new steel bridge consisting of 7 through girder spans each at 91' long was constructed. This is bridge 2477 and is known as the Washout Bridge. 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/25 16:14 by CSX2605.

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Superlative drone photos of the flooding!
Bob

Excellent drone images - thanks. It had to have been somewhat nerve-wracking for the crew on that long freight. If anything went wrong, they would be quite isolated and hard to reach. And a derailment or any failure in those long bridges and trestles would not be good, to say the least.

MC

Great dronery. Thanks for the photos.

Excellent photos, what type of drone do you have?

How are your potatoes doing with all the rainfall?

Posted from iPhone

ras099 Wrote:
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> Excellent photos, what type of drone do you have?
Thanks.  DJI Air 2S,   I really like it. For the washout bridge photos I had it out about 8,000'+. Wasn't doing that with the high water. ;)

ironmtn Wrote:
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> Excellent drone images - thanks. It had to have
> been somewhat nerve-wracking for the crew on that
> long freight. If anything went wrong, they would
> be quite isolated and hard to reach. And a
> derailment or any failure in those long bridges
> and trestles would not be good, to say the least.
>
> MC
Thanks. Yes, it would not be a good thing to deal with. One time they had an issue with a railcar on the bridge. One train had to cut away their power and pull part of the train back off the bridge so carmen could highrail in to the defective car. Was time consuming!  A big high/wide load on the washout bridge had to raise the load up so it would clear the girders. Luckily I026 had passed through before the high/wide train. That was a couple hour delay. I'm pretty sure they knew it was a close fit but I think they were hoping it would barely fit.

farmer Wrote:
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> How are your potatoes doing with all the rainfall?
>
Actually pretty good. We were dry so the water soaked away fairly quick. We do have some spots that are gone but could have been a lot worse. They are coming up now so keep the frost away please. ;)  We have about 80 acres of corn planted and it is poking through. Should get back planting tomorrow.

Wow.  The  Ohio  River  began  a  rapid  drop  here  over  the weekend. Hope  you  dry  out  soon  also. Trains  don't  float  well.