In 1857, the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad continued building west from Burlington, Iowa to the Skunk River near Rome, Iowa.
Work would resume in 1859, extending to Ottumwa. Ottumwa was a major junction point in Iowa, and the crossing of the Des Moines River.
The same railroad would again expand west in 1866, reaching Albia by the years end. In 1867, it would continue to expand west. It reached Creston in 1869.
The railroad would continue to expand west into Nebraska from here. At the same time, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad built a bridge over the Mississippi River at Burlington, which opened 1868.
The Peoria and Burlington Railroad became part of the CB&Q in 1864, and the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad would become part of it in 1875.
Almost immediately, the line became wildly successful. The route provided a direct connection between Chicago and places west. Because of this, double tracking projects were undertaken. The first major project was between Chariton and Ottumwa, which occurred between 1879 ad 1886.
The next major project provided double track between Mt. Pleasant and Burlington in 1889. However, the largest project occurred between 1899 and 1901, which resulted in the relocation of track between Mount Pleasant and Ottumwa, as well as Chariton and Creston.
The railroad would also do relocation work between Ottumwa and Osceola in the 1930s and 1940s, which still lasts today. This work reduced the grades and curves; and allowed for more efficient operation.
The CB&Q eventually merged with the Great Northern and Northern Pacific in 1970 to form Burlington Northern. In turn, BN merged with rival Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe in 1996 to form BNSF Railway, which currently operates this line.
The line is known as the Ottumwa Subdivision, and sees a very steady base of traffic.
08/18/21
Located between Ottumwa and Chillicothe, this massive bridge is locally known as the "Four Mile" bridge.
The original bridge here dates to the 1860s. However, that bridge was upgraded at least once before this bridge was built. In 1903, the CB&Q double tracked this bridge, building a five span pin connected Pratt Through Truss bridge, approached by seven spans of deck girder on the west, and five spans of deck girder on the east.
This iteration of the Four Mile Bridge was one of several spans built by King Bridge Company for this line. Several others, although much smaller spans, were also built during double tracking projects.
In 2002, BNSF decided to upgrade the bridge to the current configuration. The five truss spans were replaced with two new riveted Warren Through Truss spans, as well as several beam spans.
Unfortunately, this greatly reduced the significance of this bridge. Unaltered, this would have been one of the more significant bridges over the Des Moines River.
Today, the deck girder spans still remain, approaching the modern trusses. Several upgrades have been made to the substructures of the bridge since.
The author has rated the bridge as being moderately significant, due to the use of several plate girders.
The photo above is an overview. The photo below shows the portal bracing on the bridge.
| Upstream | Eddyville Rail Bridge |
| Downstream (Main Channel) | DM&E Des Moines River Bridge |
| Downstream (Side Channel) | DM&E Turkey Island Bridge |
