Cuyahoga River Bridge 1 is the railroad lift bridge also known as the Iron Curtain Bridge and once called the First Flats Rail Bridge. Right here the bridge marks the farthest downstream crossing of the Cuyahoga River proper before the river empties into Lake Erie — a fact that gives it the simple, decisive name “number 1. This is a working railroad lift bridge, of a design similar to many of the other railroad bridges in the Cleveland area, a family of sturdy spans that rise and fall for river traffic.
Mariners navigating the Cuyahoga can contact the bridge operator on marine channel 16 (156.8 MHz), callsign NS1 (Norfolk Southern 1), so this steel crossing still operates as part of an active river and rail network. As you listen, feel the scale of the structure and imagine the movements of trains and boats that define this spot where river meets lake. Mariners can hail its operator on marine channel 16, callsign NS1, as trains and boats still move through this steel crossing where river meets lake for you to watch.