Heavy duty black double railroad drawbridge on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Located immediately west of South Western Avenue. Chicago Illinois.

Heavy duty black double railroad drawbridge on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Located immediately west of South Western Avenue. Chicago Illinois., a photo by Eddie from Chicago on Flickr.

This photograph was sent to me recently, by an old friend of my family Gary Piont.

Gary is from my old neighborhood, and went to high school during the 1960's with my cousins Johny and Allen who used to live downstairs from me with their mother, my Aunt Rose ( 1926 - 2008 )

Seen here looking west from the South Western Avenue bridge at approximately West 33rd Street, is the heavy duty twin railroad drawbridge over the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, just north of the Ash Street Junction crosstracks.

Gary used to hang out here, and often refered to this as "Black Jack Bridge".

Small ships and masted vessels no longer travel through this portion of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, and chances are that this and the other remaining drawbridges to the west, haven't raised and lowered since the mid 1950's. Except for the South Ashland Avenue drawbridge east of here where there is an adjacent boat storage yard, the remaining drawbridges to the west have long since been decommisioned, and are now stationary.

Commercial river traffic today on this waterway, is via barges and river tugs

Thanks.
Eddie K..