Big Eagle Creek Bridge (Indianapolis & Vincennes Branch)

State: Indiana
Route: Indiana Southern Railroad
Type: Pratt Pony Truss, Pratt Through Truss
Status: Abandoned / Closed
Total Length: 222'
Main Span Length: 113'

The Big Eagle Creek Bridge is a pony and through truss bridge spanning Big Eagle Creek in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was originally used by the Indianapolis & Vincennes Railroad and later by the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The Indianapolis & Vincennes Railroad (I&V) was established in 1865 to connect Indianapolis and Vincennes. Ambrose E. Burnside, a former Union general and Rhode Island politician, played a key role in promoting the railroad, securing support from both the Indianapolis, Cincinnati & Lafayette Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). ¹

The Pennsylvania Railroad took over financial responsibility for the I&V, aiming to extend the line from Vincennes to Cairo, Illinois, as proposed by Burnside. ¹ The I&V reached Vincennes in 1869, but the Cairo extension was never completed, leaving the I&V financially troubled until coal mining began in Greene County in 1884.

In 1905, the I&V merged with the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad and other lines to form the Vandalia Railroad. ¹ The Vandalia later merged into the Panhandle Railroad in 1916, which leased its operations to the PRR in 1921.

In 1968, the PRR merged with the New York Central Railroad to create the Penn Central Railroad (PC). Following PC’s bankruptcy in 1970, the I&V line was incorporated into Conrail (CR) in 1976.

In 1978, Conrail officially removed a segment of the Kentucky Avenue Industrial, which was part of the former I&V line between downtown Indianapolis and the Eagle Creek connector. In 1984, Conrail abandoned two sections of the Caven Industrial line.

Eventually, Conrail was divided, and the I&V line became part of the Indianapolis Southern Railroad (IS) in 1992. ¹ Today, the section of the IS south of South Harding Street toward the Petersburg Secondary is abandoned, including the bridge over Big Eagle Creek.