Railroad Swing Bridge #1556

Today is my birthday, so Tom asked what I'd like to do today, & I opted to take the camera (big surprise) & we went down along the Milwaukee River. It's relatively mild out & the sun's been peeking through the clouds here & there, so it's a nice day to be outside.
This is a little different direction from yesterdays picture--the harbor with the lighthouses is past this bridge & to the left. The bridge is on the Milwaukee River, which connects to Lake Michigan via the harbor.
This old swing bridge was built in 1915 & at the time it was an engineering marvel for the area! It's 32 feet wide & 243 feet long, sits in the middle of the river & it pivots 90 degrees from the center like a giant turntable. Here, it's in the "open" position, which would allow river traffic to pass on either side, but when in the "closed" position, it carried the double track main line of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway over the river. At the height of it's use it carried 100 steam-powered trains a day(an average of 4 per hour, 24 hours a day) & was "a vital link on the heavily travelled route between Milwaukee & Chicago". 
Only 4 of these swing bridges are left in Milwaukee, with Bridge #1556 being both the largest & the best remaining example of its type. It's not in use anymore.