As far back as I can remember we've had at least four or five tractor-trailers a year become a victim of Central City's unforgiving viaduct. You know the one....located on U. S. 431 (South Second Street) that allows the Paducah & Louisville Railroad (formerly the Illinois Central) trains to slip through our town. She has been standing there silently and majestically for years, just like the Statue of Liberty or the Eiffel Tower.
She's still undefeated. Oh, she's got her share of "battle scars" on both sides but she's still there...and compared to the scars she's "given out" to the hundreds of cargo trailers that met their demise at her hands, she's a "thing of sheer beauty!"
Her opening is known by virtually every citizen of these parts. She stands at 11 ft. 4 in. Even though the road below her has been paved scores of times her warning sign remains the same. 11 ft. 4 in. We've done many things over the years to "beautify" her with new paint jobs, lighting, pavement, landscaping....but her beauty is in her sheer strength.
How many truck driving careers has she ended? How many thousands of dollars has she cost the trucking and insurance companies? How many hours has she delayed the north-south traffic flow? How many perishable items have been given away to citizens because of some company's bad luck?
I can't tell you when she was built. All I know is it was well before my time. I've come to know her well over the past twenty-five years because Pat & I own a building and lot adjacent to her and I have worked there for the most part of that time.. She's certainly come to earn my respect.
Several years ago we operated a print shop and office supply store there. In the front, directly under our store sign, we had a marquis with interchangable letters. One fall day a truck "met it's fate" there. It was the sixth truck that had "succumbed" to her that year. Before they had even cleared the wreckage from under her, I went out side and changed the letters of the sign to read "Viaduct 6 - Trucks 0." A seventh truck hit her before the year ended.
She has collected everything from large rolls of aluminum (from Logan Co.) to Hershey's chocolate to Dynamite. I have always heard it predicted over the years (mostly by old-timers) that one day a "tanker truck" will hit her and not only will she be gone but so will all buildings on both sides of the road (and both sides of the viaduct) for two blocks. These were the same guys that always said there were catfish in Green River big enough to swallow a man in a boat. Thank God neither of these prophecies has come true although several tanker trucks have hit her at one time or another.
I'll never forget the day I was working in our building one morning. It was when it was still under construction and I was assembling some shelving units in the front. I was sitting in the floor, screwdriver in hand, and happened to look out the front window. I saw this middle aged man across the street, running north at a speed most cross country runners would have envied. He had a terrified look on his face. I then glanced down at the viaduct and could see his tanker truck and it was on fire. He was driving from north to south (Owensboro to Russellville) and had a load of gasoline. I've seen truckers delivering gas to local stations and when they are transferring the gasoline from their tank trailer to the underground storage tanks, it is a "common practice" to go atop the trailer and "loosen" the doors on top. This allows more air flow so the trailer will empty faster. I've also seen them leave when they've completed the delivery and forget to "re-seal" the doors back down. Thank goodness that wasn't the case here.
Apparently, this particular tanker had recently filled his trailer somewhere close by. Around the "snap down" lids on the top of the tank is a sort of "pit" about four inches deep to, I assume, catch any "overflow" and stop it from reaching the ground. Some of this gasoline was still in these pits (there were three atop the tank) and when the truck reached the viaduct, the driver, seeing the 11 ft. 4 in. sign knew his tank was less than 10 feet tall and knew he had plenty of room. Even then, he approached the viaduct cautiously (about 15 miles per hour). What he didn't know was that his chrome stacks were about 12 or 13 feet tall and when they struck the viaduct, they immediately bent back to about a forty five degree angle and made "lots of sparks," thereby igniting the gasoline puddles on two of the lids. He stopped the truck under the viaduct, got out to inspect the damage and saw the ensuing flames and black smoke. That's when he took off running.
Fortunately a policeman was coming upon the scene and saw the same thing. He immediately got on his radio and summoned a fire crew. In a few moments (actually about two minutes that seemed like ten), a truck arrived and the brave firemen hosed the trailer down and put out the fire. If the lids on top had not been secured tightly, it would have certainly blown up and I would have gotten a first hand look at the old timer's prophecy about eliminating the viaduct and two city blocks. In a few moments, the trucker pulled on through the viaduct to the other side and with the help of some volunteers, straightened his stacks and went on his "merry way."
I remember several years ago when a large aluminum trailer was filled to the brim with Hershey's chocolate products and happened to strike to "old gal." The trailer literally became obliterated and cases and cases of chocolate went everywhere. The truck had everything from chocolate syrup to Hershey Candy Bars to Cocoa and everything else chocolate one can think of. As always, the city police arrived on the scene and secured the area. Chocoholics gathered around the area like buzzards sitting on a limb waiting for some "road kill" to die. A wrecker managed to pull the injured tractor trailer to the southern side of the viaduct and up into the road leading to the Illinois Central Roundhouse.
Volunteers began picking up the cases and cases of chocolate products and stacking them alongside the trailer. Shortly thereafter, the truck driver apparently had called his corporate offices and they instructed him to simply "give away" all of the contents of the trailer. Word spread throughout town like a wildfire in a sagebrush field. People came from all around and in about two hours practically every household in the area had enough chocolate to last a year. It was a fiasco.
When the strip mines were active, dynamite was hauled through our town on a regular basis (although most of us didn't even know it). More than once a tractor trailer carrying dynamite would hit the viaduct. Fortunately the blasting caps required to activate it were sent via another shipment so fortunately, our town never got blown up by dynamite. I don't remember any of the corporate offices calling down and instructing the driver to "give it away" however.
I can think of two or three times when a truckload of chickens would hit it. That was always exciting. I'm not talking about chickens that have just left the processing plant in a "reefer" (trucker talk for refrigerated trailer)...I'm talking about live chickens ON THEIR WAY to the processing plants. They were transported in individual crates holding about six chickens each and stacked about ten or twelve high, end to end and side to side. It usually killed the unfortunate ones on the top front part of the trailer. Most of the rest lived and a lot of them got loose, obviously running for their lives (think of the bus wreck scene in the movie "The Fugitive"). Feathers were everywhere. It took hours to round all of them up and I'm sure a lot of them were never found. I guess it shouldn't have been funny but it always was.
Once when I was a kid, one of the trucks drove under the viaduct and got stuck. It didn't seem to have a lot of damage but it was "wedged" pretty tight between the underside of the viaduct and the roadway. It was a "two wrecker responder," meaning it required both Charlie Humphrey's wrecker and Doc Carr's wrecker. They were hooked to the back of the trailer trying to pull it back out but it was stuck so tightly that the wreckers were "bogging down" and just didn't seem to have enough power to unstick it. While the police officials, the truck driver and the wrecker operators were standing beside the cab of the truck trying to figure out the next move, a kid (slightly older than I was) went up and "tugged" on one of the policemen's pant legs and said "Sir, why don't you let the air out of the tires?" They did and the driver was able to pull the tractor-trailer the rest of the way through. In a few minutes they bought over an air compressor, re-aired the tires and he went on to his destination.
One of the things that amazes me the most is this. When a truck comes from Logan Aluminum, there are at least three warning signs that say "Low Overpass - 11 ft. 4 in. Ahead." Two of these have flashing lights and one (just before you get to the viaduct) hangs 11 ft. 4 in. from the pavement so when you strike it, it makes a noise. One would assume the sign was there for a purpose. Unfortunately, a few of these drivers keep going and manage to slam the viaduct. If you get close to the scene and stand beside the cab on the driver's side, you'll notice a sign on the front corner of the trailer, written backwards, that gives the height of the trailer. It's usually 12 feet, 6 inches. The reason it's written backwards is because when you look in the mirror (which truck drivers must do a thousand times a day) the letters read normally. Duhhhh!
I wonder what it is about a viaduct (or a tunnel which is similar, only longer) that brings on this "uncontrollable urge" to honk the horn while you're going under it. I used to think it was because we were teen agers and bored but in later life, in fact even today, when I go through a tunnel I sometimes still honk the horn (especially if I have my grandkids in the car). We were sitting out front at the Sonic Drive-In the other night and I didn't hear anyone honk their horn under the viaduct but now it seems the "thing to do" is ride a "Harley" into it and "fire it up."
On labor day weekend we have a "cruise in" and car show here in town. All of the activities take place downtown but "street rodders" are encouraged to "cruise the strip" just as we did many years ago. I'm on the committee that helps organize this event and most of the time I'm downtown with the activities. Since I own a "cruisin' car" myself (Yeah, I know...I'm part of the generation that refuses to grow up), I decided to take a few minutes break so I drove over to the strip (actually you "crawl" over to the strip due to the massive traffic jam). As I approached the viaduct, I couldn't believe my eyes. There were as many people over there on the strip (just like the old days) as there was downtown. All of the hot cars would "fire them up" as they went under the viaduct and do it again just past the viaduct. The police were there writing tickets but it didn't seem to stop the rodders (after all there were about four hundred of them and only about a dozen police). It was a "hoot!"
Incidentally, if you've been away from home for awhile and want to come back and visit, I would sure recommend you do it on that weekend. It's like the old days. You'll see friends and things you've forgotten. I hope you can come and join in. Last year it was estimated that we had about 8,000 people downtown and on the strip on Friday night only....not counting Saturday and Saturday night.
Finally, I saw in the paper last week that someone finally came up with an ingenious idea. I can't believe I didn't think of it myself, it's so simple.
Central City built a "bypass" called State Route 189 around town in about 1978. It's a modern two lane road leading to South Carrollton that doesn't have a single viaduct on it. Someone came up with the idea of re-routing U. S. 431 to that route. That would eliminate having a separate and confusing "Truck Route" and would eliminate the need to travel to the viaduct (or any of our three viaducts). I welcome the change although I never liked doing anything to re-route folks away from downtown. It'll save the trucking and insurance companies a lot of big bucks I reckon, and should allow for a smoother traffic flow.
The "old gal's" getting older now, just like the rest of us. She needs a rest. She's put up a good fight and needs to retire while she's still undefeated. It'll just be another topic for us "old timers" to talk about over coffee. A fleeting piece of history!
But.........If you're a gambler, place your bet on the Ol' Viaduct. It doesn't matter where they re-route the tractor trailers. I'm willing to bet that she'll still get her share of truckers well into the future. After all....If they can't see three signs saying "Low Overpass - 11 ft. 4 in.," how in the world will they see a little ol' sign that says "U. S. 431." Thanks for the memories Ol' Gal!"
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