Basic information: [From other websites, mainly that of the Tyrone Bridge and Rail Company]
Young's High Bridge (original name) was built in 1889 by the Louisville and Southern RR.
Named in honor of
Colonel Bennett Henderson Young, a Nicholasville, Ky
native. He was a Civil War veteran, and became president
of the Louisville Southern RR.
First train crossed August 30, 1889.
Train traffic on bridge ended November 1985.
Bridge is 1,659 feet long, and stands 283 feet above the low water mark of the Kentucky River near the Tyrone community.
Bridge is also known as the "Tyrone Bridge."
Bridge is of a cantilever design. Not modified or altered since its construction.
The bridge is owned by the Norfolk Southern RR.
The Tyrone Bridge
and Rail Co. is a non-profit organization that has been
trying to preserve the bridge and turn it into a "linear
park", like
other examples of the "Rails to Trails" system
in various parts of the U.S.
Photo: Heading east on highway 62, toward Versailles, Ky.
In the summer of 1999 I was in the Somerset library looking at books, and happened to find a book that has a collection of Joe Creason's columns. One of those is about the "Tyrone Bridge", and includes a b&w picture." I had never heard of this bridge and was very interested. I decided then I had to go see it.
I left Somerset early one morning and drove to Lawrenceburg, then east on highway 62, which crosses the Kentucky River not far from Lawrenceburg. Along the river, it was very foggy that morning. I went out on the highway bridge and looked for the railroad bridge, but didn't see it. As I drove, I looked up higher, and then I saw some of the bridge looming out of the fog. It seemed kind of eerie at the time. I was looking for an antique bridge from the late 1800s and suddenly it vaguely appeared up there in the fog. It was there, I just hadn't noticed it until right then, and saw only a little of it enveloped in the mist.
The west end of the RR bridge is grounded at the Wild Turkey distillery property. I went back to the distillery to find out about going out on the bridge. I saw an employee outside and asked him about it, and he said it was ok. That was then. In 2003, Barb and I were coming back through Lawrenceburg and I wanted to take her out on the bridge, but I was told at that time that they no longer allowed people out there.
Early that morning in summer of 1999, I was allowed to go, and I did. The whole river out there was foggy, but it didn't last very long. At first, as shown in this first picture on the left, it looked like a bridge to the sky. I went out on the bridge, and while I was out there, the fog lingered a while, and dissipated gradually.
I had my walking stick with me and used it to test track ties that I wasn't sure about. Most looked sound, but some looked like they had deterioriated somewhat in places. I checked them before advancing. Even though some looked questionable, they were good enough--back then. I don't know about the condition now.
As I advanced across the bridge, the fog was thinning, yet it was still misty for a while. The height itself was stunning, even over the trees, and it increased over the water, because the water was lower. The complete experience was energizing, stimulating. In this picture, near the top, you can see part of a gravel road that went from the rock quarry to a mobile home back in the woods.
The track "bed" of this bridge is not solid. It is framework with ties and rails. You can see down between the ties, to the trees underneath. Not recommended for people queasy about heights. The framework seems kind of thin for such a big structure, yet it supported trains, of long ago, and some trains of modern times, with small size engines I presume. I found a picture on the internet made probably in the 1980s,showing a short train on the bridge, with a switcher engine.
Here is a picture I made by holding the camera between two ties. At the upper left, you can see a little bit of the river, and a walkway that goes out to a barge dock for the rock quarry that is close to the bridge. This is looking straight down.
Photo on left is facing west and down to the quarry property. ----------------------------------------Right photo is facing west, toward the distillery.
This photo is facing west, toward the distillery. The highway 62 bridge is down on the right. This photo was made with a 28mm lens, on a 35mm film camera. I think I used the 28mm for most of the pictures.
In this photo, you can see how some of the ties look, with splits and wood missing. The main reason I'm including this picture is to show one of the little platforms outside of the track, with the virtical pieces. Some of the vertical pieces and some of the bottom pieces are missing. This was a platform, for what reason I don't know. There are several spaced out along the north side of the bridge. This one is in bad condition. Some of them look not very bad.
I stepped out on one of the decent looking platforms, which I shouldn't have done. I should have stayed on the main track part. As I stepped out on one of the boards, I stepped near the right end. As I did, the left end rose up. It was not fastened anymore. The nails, or bolts, had rusted away. I was moving slowly, of course, and saw the board rise. I stopped immediately and backed up. That was close. Around 280 feet down to the water. That will get you tense. The point of this, is that you have to be careful about what you are doing. You can't assume everything is ok. That platform I stepped out on looked ok, but it wasn't, and I took a good look at it before moving forward.
I stayed on the track from then on. I went on toward the east end, got over the trees on that side, and then returned. I lingered out there a while, and shot more photos. I used about 1 1/2 rolls in all, up there and down below.
I left the bridge and then drove around to the east end, and made this photo at right from beside the road. From quarry property, I made the one below, and others. An employee in the office was nice enough to allow me to go on their property.
The Kentucky Atlas and Gazateer (online) has some information about Tyrone, and the following comes from that: The community of Tyrone is about three miles east of Lawrenceburg, in Anderson county. It was first known as Streamville. In 1869 James Ripey built a distillery and he named it Tyrone, after his home county in Ireland. In 1888 (Gazateer says, but other sources say 1889) the Southern Railway built Young's High Bridge over the Kentucky River at Tyrone. The Gazateer goes on to say that the population increased to nearly 1,000 before prohibition closed the distillery. It was later reopened. It is now the Wild Turkey distillery.
Links:
Tyrone Bridge and Rail Company........... http://www.kyrailtrail.org/tyronerailtrail/
Kentucky Historical Society (old picture).....................
http://205.204.134.47:2005/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/Jillson&CISOPTR=175&CISOBOX=1&REC=8
WorldTimZone (info and links).............. http://worldtimzone.com/railtrail/youngshighbridge/
WorldTimZone (engineering description, from Engineering News Report of 1890).......... http://worldtimzone.com/railtrail/youngshighbridge/eng/