Kate Shelley Bridge, Highest Double track with train. droned! Boone, IA
Watch a speeding locomotive fly over one of the highest double rail
train tracks in the world. Hold on tight folks!
The REAL Kate Shelley Bridge! (and the story)
Saturday, January 3, 2015. A lot of people know at least a sketchy version of the story of Kate Shelley and the High Bridge that was named after her, but there are many misconceptions that very easily creep into the story. I'll try to lay it out very simply.
First of all, Kate Shelley didn't crawl across the bridge that bears her name. 1881, when Kate's story took place, was twenty years before the High Bridge existed (it opened in 1901), and the only Des Moines River crossing on the Chicago & Northwestern Main Line (now Union Pacific tracks) was on a bridge about 15 or 20 feet above the river level located at Moingona, Iowa, about 4 miles down the river valley from the current high bridge. On July 6, 1881, a bad thunderstorm washed out a bridge over Honey Creek, EAST of the Des Moines River bridge. Kate Shelley could see this bridge from her family's house, and saw that a helper engine that helped push trains up out of the river valley had backed off the ruined bridge into the floodwaters, killing two crewmen and stranding two others in the water. Kate ran down to the Des Moines River bridge (which was NOT damaged), and in the middle of the night and still during the storm, crawled across this bridge and followed the tracks to the Moingona station, about a half mile west of the river. She told what she'd seen to the station master, who alerted an approaching passenger train to stop. Thus Kate Shelley's actions had saved the lives of all the passengers on this train. She then led rescuers to the two crewmen stranded in the floodwaters, and they were also saved.
This video opens on the road into Moingona, and shows the welcome sign (please have your passports ready) and the sign pointing left to the station that Kate Shelley ran to.
Then you can see the informative signs at the west end of the station house that tell the whole story I just told you, and shows an old photo of the bridge that Kate crawled across, as well as a map of the tracks with relevant landmarks pointed out (but the scale on the map is off by a factor of about 4).
Next is the whole trail following the old railbed from the station down the half-mile or so to the river. I shot this using a time-lapse camera running at 1 frame per second, so the slightly more than half-mile is covered in about a half-minute. Sorry about the blurriness here. Arriving at the west abutment of the bridge that Kate Shelley crawled across, we look out across the tops of the still-existing stone-block and concrete bridge supports. Following this is a shot taken from a short distance up river and panning from the east bridge abutment clear over to the west abutment (my calculations put this span at around an eighth of a mile). Finally, a shot taken from a few hundred feet down river showing the bridge supports again. Look back now at the old photo at 0:20 showing the bridge intact. Also, read the story on the sign; it has several details I've left out.
I hope this helps clear up confusion about such things as versions of the story that have Kate crawling across a washed out High Bridge.
I've wondered where exactly this bridge site at Moingona was ever since the 1970s. At that time I drove around gravel roads with a friend who was sure he knew where the bridge had been (he didn't), and a little later visited the Moingona station before the railbed trail to the river had been cleared and labeled. I finally saw the bridge site for the first time this weekend.
Check out Google Earth; you can easily seen the bridge supports in the river east of Moingona.
Kate Shelley High Bridge
I grew up in Iowa canoeing and enjoying this stretch of the Des Moines River. If you want to find out who Kate Shelley was do the research. She's a railroad heroine. I went to visit this site because of the New Bridge. And ... very kool! I have joined an exclusive club of Kate Shelley High Bridge producers as I notice many videos of this fantastic bridge. I'm a ex-Ames resident, graduating in 1966. My mom's father was a conductor and fireman for CNW out of Boone.
new Kate Shelley High Bridge - fall colors
Shot from the north side of the access road. There were a lot of people out there, probably checking out the fall colors and the new bridge. Enjoy.
Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad JS 8419- Bass Point Creek High Bridge
The Boone and Scenic Valley's Saturday Steam train crosses the Bass Point Creek High Bridge. Built in 1912 this bridge spans 784 feet across the Valley at a height of 156 feet tall.
**For tickets and more information visit scenic-valleyrr.com
Kate Shelley Park area
Bridge
UP's Big Boy 4014 passes under humpback bridge near Kate Shelley!
Friday, August 2, 2019, 11:35 AM. Here's Rick's video of Union Pacific's Big Boy 4014 passing under the humpback bridge a mile west of the Kate Shelley High Bridge. Note the crowd of people on the bridge who came to watch and film the train. I was up there taking my video but I think I'm hidden by the tree on the right.
UP's Big Boy 4014 passes under humpback bridge near Kate Shelley!
Friday, August 2, 2019, 11:35 AM. Before it headed back to Cheyenne, Wyoming, we made our last catch of Union Pacific's Big Boy steam locomotive, number 4014, at the humpback bridge a mile west of the Kate Shelley High Bridge. When I turn from facing east to facing west as it passes, you can get a glimpse of the large number of people who converged on this remote spot to see and film the train. It was like this everywhere we went. You can see Rick carrying his tripod closer to the tracks at the grade level crossing to the west as he took his videos, which will follow.
Train Ride Over High Bridge - Boone, IA
Crossing high bridge over Des Moines River Valley in a train near Boone, IA
Long Lost Amusement Park
search for Nic-O-Let Park a 1920's era park near Boone Iowa. Several parks dotted the Iowa landscape. Part of this one, is still here.
BOONE IOWA BRIDGE
Union Pacific at the Kate Shelly Bridge at Boone Iowa.
Boone Kate Shelley Railroad Bridge
Aerial view of the railroad bridges west of Boone Iowa
Kate Shelley High Bridge
Kate Shelley High Bridge by Boone
Dog, Drone, Ledges State Park, Boone, IA
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Flying the drone around Ledges State park near Boone, IA. Cool cliffs, trails and a great place for the dog to run around. Over 1 million people visit the ledges every year. Saw geese, baby geese, some unknown animal and got to see some great views.
Thanks to Hippie Sabotage for letting us use Waiting too Long.
Twitter: @gopheraeial
The Kate Shelley Bridge
A look at one of the highest, and longest, railroad bridges in the United States. Named after Kate Shelley, who prevented a passenger train derailment on July 6, 1881. At that time, a flood had swept away part of a wooden bridge. Kate became aware that a inspection locomotive had derailed, and then crawled across the long wooden trestle in order to reach a depot not too far from the other end. She reached the depot in time to prevent a 200 passenger train from falling into the raging Des Moines River. A high steel trestle was built around 1900, and a newer bridge was built alongside in the early 2000's.
The video has views from both sides of the river, as well as underneath the western approach. There are two trains that can be seen moving over the bridge. I recorded this during the great drought of 2012 and the river is at a record low level.
Kate Shelley bridge 2011-11-04 Part 2 K-Line stacker recedes
The eastbound UP stack train from part 1 receding, shot from the other side of the automobile bridge.
Railfanning Grand Junction and the Kate Shelley High Bridge - 12 May 2019
First train was shot at Lion Tree Park just outside of Grand Junction, IA.
The rest were shot at the Kate Shelley High Bridge between Boone and Ogden, IA.
Kate Shelly High Bridge 2011
Perhaps one of the more scenic sights in central Iowa, the Kate Shelly High Bridge is located just west of Boone, Iowa, crossing over the Des Moines River valley. An empty Union Pacific coal train heads west over this mammoth structure.
UP 844 westbound west of the Kate Shelley High bridge.
UP 844 makes good time as she heads west for CB just west of the Kate Shelley High bridge.
CNW T.O.F.C. West bound over CIRC High Bridge
A CNW TOFC frieght crosses the Central Iowa Railroad Clubs High Bridge, a compressed rendition of the Kate Shelley High Bridge West of Boone IA. The CIRCs High Bridge is located at our club building on the Iowa State Fair grounds. The model is 10.5ft long, full scale would have been 31ft long.