Tanners Creek Railroad Bridge

    The Tanners Creek Railroad Bridge carries the Aurora-Lawrenceburg Trail over Tanners Creek in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

    A railroad bridge over Tanners Creek was constructed by the Kellogg & Maurice Bridge Company of Athens, Pennsylvania for the Cincinnati & Southern Ohio River Railroad in 1882. 1 2 The railroad was sold to the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway (CCC&StL, Big Four) in December 1913, becoming its Aurora Branch, which was folded into the New York Central Railroad in 1930 and sold to Penn Central in 1968.

    In 1976, PC’s Aurora Branch was folded into Conrail’s L&A Running Track. 3 Conrail abandoned the branch between Lawrenceburg and Aurora in 1979, including the bridge over Tanners Creek. The bridge was repurposed for Indiana & Michigan Power in 1982 and in 2006 for the Aurora-Lawrenceburg Trail, a rail-to-trail between Lawrenceburg and Aurora. 4

    Information

    • State: Indiana
    • Route: Dearborn County Trail
    • Type: Pratt Through Truss
    • Status: Active - Pedestrian

    Sources

    1. “Big Four Now Owns Short Railroad Line Near Aurora.” Tribune [Seymour], 16 Dec. 2013.
    2. “Railroad to be Sold December 15.” Richmond Item [Richmond], 17 Oct. 1913.
    3. “Indiana Railroad Abandonments.” Indiana Department of Transportation.
    4. Mattingly, Chandra L. “Walking trail impresses, but additional work remains.” Journal Press [Lawrenceburg], 19 Sept. 2006, pp. 1A-10A.

    Leave a Reply