Little Rock Train Bridges.

[LevyRat]

The levy rats, now 4 strong, conquered the two train bridges crossing the arkansas river in little rock. A perrilous journy it was, risking life and limb and braving the dreaded panhandlers of the river district.

We left the house because we had heard sirens drive by and decided to investigate, but much to our adventurous dismay, it was just a burning trashcan, so we ventured forward down the river. We had scouted the first bridge several nights before, and found we had access to the gear room at the top of the tower. That was good 100ft climb, and we really didn't feel like making the climb again, and had yet to actually cross the river, so on we trudged.

The North Little Rock side was fairly non-descript. It crossed over a 4 lane road, so we kept it low and climbed the barrier fence and headed up the river to the older, more abbandoned bridge. The eastern bridge was a pain to reach. We had a 10 foot rock wall to scale by hand, with no hand holds, that took a feat of human engineering to conquer, followed by a quarter mile walk on 60 year old railroad ties that had been suspended over water for most of their career.

Arriving at the segment elevated for barge travel, we found not one but two ladders leading up to the crows nest. Your narrator was playing point man, and thusly navigator, and being the most adventurous, and, as you will find later, most clumsey of the group, I chose the ladder that was enclosed inside one of the 2'x2' steel beams.

I believe the towers on the east bridge are a good 2 stories taller than the central bridge. We hadn't brought flashlights with us this trip, so the only illumination we had were lighters and cell phones. When we reached the end of our ascent there was a trap door, tied down with bailing wire that we had to circumvent with a pocket knife and skinny hands with little illumination and no elbow room, while standing on a ladder. We managed, however, with no casualties, though, if I had fallen, I would have taken the other 3 members of the group down that beam with me, and crushed them all. I would have survived, considering my friends would have made a comfortable cushion for my fall. I'd of broken both of my legs and cracked my skull, of course, but one of us would have had a working cellphone.

At any rate, when we popped the trapdoor, we found the bedroom of a homeless woman. I say woman because we found tampons and a compact, but you never know, those homeless people are kind of strange. We explored the room for a few moments, found a couple of other trap doors for access to the gears. I tell you, that tower has the best view of Little Rock/North Little Rock I have ever seen.

We found the other ladder leading down, and I headed to the next level, which was a catwalk 2 stories down. Stepping off the ladder, I turned to proceed and took two steps before everything suddenly blurred in a very abrupt upward direction. It didn't take me very long to realize I was falling and the first thing I did was stick out my elbows like a bird. Luckily that was the right answer and I caught myself shortly before I met my immenent and not so immediate doom.

In the fall I had banged my shin and back badly enough that it took me more than a minute to crawl my butt-hurt self out of the hole, and after a moment of moaning and trying not to roll around on the ground, I got myself on my feet and started to walk off the throbbing that now subsided in my leg. My friends had not made it off of the ladder yet, and when I heard the next man come off onto the catwalk i turned around with enough time to bleat out a pained and desperate "No!" as I saw him step onto the nonexistant part of the catwalk just as I had. Luckily it was enough warning that he was able to grab the railing before he lost himself to the river below.

The others rushed down the ladder to see what was the matter where I politely showed them the deathtrap before they had time to get off the ladder. We ventured onward, to the controll room, which is set at the center of the elevated segment between two catwalks. This part of the bridge, itself is two stories and a good 9 or 10 stories above the river. The main shell of the controll center is still intact, though the entire enclosure is covered in graffiti.

The second tower was roughly the same as the first, less the homeless house decorations, but with a better view. We climbed down a similar ladder to the tracks again, and quickly made our way back to land, where I hobbled my broke self back home. We will definately be back for pictures, as this was one of the most interesting and invigorating UE's we've accomplished.

[White Rabbit]

Good story. You need a blog.

[LevyRat]

Have one on myspace. =P That's the only story I posted though.

[bugo]

Wow. Either you're crazy or have huge cojones. Probably both. Good story.

[Chillindave]

I attempted the same thing back around June of 2005. I used a rope and an old truck oil filter (filter found on site) to climb the rock pillar. I scurryed across the bridge and due to the fact it was broad daylight, I chose to climb up the dark enclosed ladder. It was 95+ degree weather and I had no light at all. I reached the top and couldn't get the door opened no matter how hard I tried. I abandoned the mission and still want to someday go back, but can't find anyone else crazy enough to do it. If you guys would be interested in making another trip, I've got some pretty awesome ideas on how to get to the old UP bridge, better known at the Junction bridge in the Rivermarket area. I live in West Little Rock, so drop me a reply.

[LevyRat]

If you're talking about the one between Scott street and I-30, we've tackled that one as well. One day I want to cross the top of the arch on the raised portion. But if you want to hit the old train bridge on the other side of 30 again, I'm down. I need pictures anyway. You know how to contact.

[Chillindave]

Here's a few pics I got out and took of the bridge today.

[LevyRat]

Nice shot of the control center on the catwalk. Some killer graffiti in there.

[jetskiergrant]

Those are some most excellent pics. Makes me miss home even more.