Built St. Louis > > East St. Louis > > The Venice High Line
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Venice, Illinois
This spectacular rotting trestle was the railroad approach to the rickety old McKinley toll bridge, closed for years to rail traffic, shut down entirely in the late 1990s, and finally renovated for auto traffic in 2008. Site reader Kenneth McGreevy adds:
"This was also built by the Illinois Terminal and was called the Venice High Line. It was built to avoid grade level crossings with the many rail lines serving the industries of the area.
"All of this and more can be explored in The Illinois Terminal Railroad by Dale Jenkins, 2005."
The rotting wood trestle was destroyed by fire in 2005; the steel elevated was removed in 2006. Only the steel and stone portion above the railyards remains. More of its remnants and the bridge they served can be seen at the Industrial City tour.
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The trestle and high line ran straight through the southern edge of Venice's residential areas until its recent demolition. |
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Geographically nearby, but separated by railroads and empty lands, the Venice Power Plant sits amid a wild landscape of powerlines near the entrance to the McKinley Bridge. |
