The Yancopin Bridge is an abandoned railroad

moveable bridge A moveable bridge, or movable bridge, is a bridge that moves to allow passage for boats or barges. In American English, the term is synonymous with , and the latter is the common term, but drawbridge can be limited to the narrower, historical d ...

spanning the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United ...

, and the last bridge across the Arkansas River before it flows into the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

15 miles to the southeast. It is distinctive not only for its size and remoteness, but also for having not one but two movable spans, one having replaced the other due to river avulsion. The Yancopin Bridge was originally constructed by the Memphis, Helena & Louisiana Railway, a wholly owned subsidiary of the

St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (St. L., I. M. & S.), commonly known as the Iron Mountain, was an American railway company that operated from 1874 until 1917 when it was merged into the Missouri Pacific Railroad. History The Iro ...

that was known colloquially as Iron Mountain. The Iron Mountain itself became consolidated with the

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

in 1881, but became fully merged later on in 1917. The single-track bridge is an all-metal

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

, designed with one lift span and with lengthy wooden trestle approaches at both ends.

History

The bridge was reportedly completed in 1903, but the track segment served by this bridge, between Watson and New Latour, was not opened for service until March 1, 1906. Floods periodically brought changes to the Arkansas River channel and necessitated numerous rebuilding projects for the bridge over the years, including the addition of a

swing span A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

sometime after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as the navigable channel under the lift span drifted shut. Articles in ''Missouri Pacific Lines Magazine'' describe this bridge as being perhaps the most expensive bridge on the entire Missouri Pacific system. On May 11, 1941, Missouri Pacific inaugurated the ''Delta Eagle'', the railroad's first diesel-powered streamlined train serving Arkansas. This train operated between

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

and

Tallulah, Louisiana Tallulah is a city in and the parish seat of Madison Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The 2010 population was 7,335, a decrease of 1,854, or 20.2 percent, from the 9,189 recorded at the 2000 census. As this was historically a ...

via the Yancopin bridge. Although this unlikely route was financially very successful during World War II, traffic gradually declined in the 1950s and passenger service was cut back on October 27, 1954 to include only a McGehee-Watson-Yancopin-

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer *Helena, mother of Constantine I Places Greece * Helena (island) Guyana * H ...

schedule. This truncated schedule often utilized Missouri Pacific's only streamlined motorcar known as the ''Eagle'', motor 670, before passenger service was discontinued altogether on February 27, 1960, thus ending passenger train service over the Yancopin bridge. In April 1980, the Missouri Pacific began a major upgrading of their railroad line between McGehee and Paragould, in order to divert chemical trains from a route passing through highly populated areas of

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

. After installation of 127 miles of welded rail, trackside signals,

centralized traffic control Centralized traffic control (CTC) is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America. CTC consolidates train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system con ...

and numerous bridge repair projects, chemical trains from the Texas and Louisiana Gulf coasts began using this new line in early 1981. This usage was short-lived. In December 1982, the Missouri Pacific merged with the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

, and the new Union Pacific management determined that the route over the Yancopin bridge was surplus and unnecessary. Chemical traffic was again returned to the traditional Missouri Pacific route through the center of Little Rock, and parts of the railroad north of McGehee were embargoed and later abandoned. In 1992, Union Pacific removed the bridge from service, and donated it and a 73-mile right-of-way to the State of Arkansas. This enabled the creation of the Delta Heritage Trail. The bridge is maintained by the

Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT), formerly the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, is a government department in the U.S. state of Arkansas. Its mission is to provide a safe, efficient, aesthetically pleasing and e ...

, and the swing span is manually spun open and closed for

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply cha ...

traffic on the river for several months every year. The area around the bridge is rich in wildlife, including

rattlesnake Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small an ...

s. North of the Yancopin Bridge, the rail line/trail traverses old-growth hardwood forest within the Trusten Holder State Wildlife Management Area. The bridge can be accessed from

Watson, Arkansas Watson is a city in Desha County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 211 at the 2010 census. Delta Heritage Trail In 1992, the Union Pacific Railroad discontinued service on a rail line which ran directly through Watson, and a right-of ...

, via County Road 41.

References

* Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism,
"Delta Heritage Trail State Park"
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140617131931/http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/!userfiles/pdfs/Delta%20Heritage-05.pdf , date=2014-06-17 . 2005. * Dempsey, Joseph P

CornDancer: A Developmental Website for the Mind & Spirit. October 17, 2010. * Houp, J. Randall
"Yancopin Railroad Bridge: Bridge History"
Bridgehunter.com. February 18, 2012. * Missouri Pacific Lines Magazine, St. Louis, MO. January 1942, page 6; February 1942, page 4; January 1947, page 7; December 1950, page 12. * Arkansas Railroader, Little Rock, AR. February 200

* Herndon, Dallas Tabor. ''Centennial History of Arkansas''. vol. 1. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1922. * ''Historic Review: Arkansas State Highway Commission and Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, 1913–1992''. Little Rock: Arkansas State Highway Transportation Department, 1992. Bridges over the Arkansas River Bridges completed in 1903 Buildings and structures in Desha County, Arkansas Railroad bridges in Arkansas Swing bridges Transportation in Desha County, Arkansas Vertical lift bridges in the United States Rail trail bridges in the United States Towers in Arkansas 1903 establishments in Arkansas St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway Pedestrian bridges in the United States Missouri Pacific Railroad

History

See also

References