The first portion of construction started in 1886, when a 43 mile segment of line was built from Elwood, Kansas to Horton, Kansas.
This line would be continued in 1887 to Herington, Kansas. This line would go through the Kansas capitol of Topeka, and connect to several other railroads. In addition, the route used the Union Pacific (former Kansas Pacific) mainline between Topeka and Kansas City to reach Kansas City.
This new cross-Kansas mainline would be extended to Oklahoma the next year, and open opportunities for expansion to places such as Manhattan and Salina.
By 1891, the railroad became a part of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway. This line was instrumental in becoming a part of the Rock Island's mainline to the south.
In addition, major yard operations occurred in Armourdale, Kansas after 1903. In 1905, a new bridge was built across the Kansas River at this location.
Because of the high significance of this corridor, many parts of it were double tracked. This included track from Paxico to McFarland in 1917, track around Topeka in 1919, track from Topeka to Paxico in 1923, from Alta Vista to Herington in 1925 and from Alta Vista to Paxico in 1927.
The CRIP would be reorganized as the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad in 1947. The Rock Island oftentimes had major financial issues, and many of the lines saw significant deterioration.
The Rock Island would go bankrupt in 1980, and the St. Louis Southwestern Railway would purchase a half interest in the line in 1980, and purchase the other half in 1982. Around this same time, the Kansas City operations ceased and the Kansas River Bridge was abandoned.
Despite this, the second mainline was significantly removed in 1981, and the trackage between Elwood and Topeka would be removed the same year.
The SSW would be completely merged into the Southern Pacific Company in 1992, before being completely merged into Union Pacific in 1996.
Today, the Topeka-Herington segment of this line is owned and operated as a Union Pacific mainline; and is known as the Topeka Subdivision. Union Pacific continues to operate into Kansas City, as part of the Kansas Subdivision.
11/07/21
Another massive abandoned truss crosses the Kansas River near Kemper Arena.
The Armourdale Bridge was originally built in 1905 to allow the Rock Island connections into Kansas City.
The design chosen featured three spans, not unlike the KCS Bridge Upstream.
A pair of Pennsylvania Through Truss spans create the main spans. Each of these spans feature 12 panels and pinned connections.
In addition, a smaller 7-panel riveted Baltimore Through Truss span approaches the structure on the east, and was added in 1912 when the channel was widened. The entire bridge rests on concrete substructures.
Little has changed since the 1912 configuration of this bridge. The Kansas River has a reputation for flooding quite often. Fortunately for this bridge, it has survived every major flood largely intact. A screw jack lift system was installed in the 1940s.
The bridge is easy to access, yet is also hard. The bridge has been permanently raised into lifted position. Both ends of the river are fairly accessible.
The bridge is in fair condition. Should this bridge ever be reused; it would likely have to have some rehabilitation work put into it.
The author has ranked this bridge as being moderately significant due to the large span length and great historic integrity.
As of 2021, plans are in the works to reconstruct this bridge into a gathering spot, featuring an event area, restaurants and a trail.
The photo above is an overview from the east bank. The author hopes to return for better photos in the near future.
| Upstream | Highline Bridge |
| Downstream | UP Kansas River Bridge #2 |