This new route formed the basis for an expansion to the Pacific Ocean by Northern Pacific. To the east, the route connected to St. Paul, Minnesota. Inevitably, the route would reach the west coast a few years later.
The route stayed under the same ownership from the time of its construction, until Northern Pacific merged with Great Northern and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy in 1970 to form Burlington Northern, a railroad with thousands of miles of trackage connecting Chicago to the Pacific Ocean along three different corridors.
BN remained the owner of this route for many years, until they themselves merged with Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe to form BNSF Railway, the current owner of this line.
BNSF continues to operate this as a mainline, and it is known as the Dickinson Subdivision.
07/17/21
This large through truss bridge crosses the Heart River in Mandan.
Originally built in 1960, the bridge replaced a similar bridge which was relocated to south of Mandan.
It is believed that this structure was built as a flood prevention project along the Heart River. Currently, it contains a large 8-panel, riveted Warren Through Truss. This span is approached by I-Beam spans on either side, and the whole bridge sits on concrete substructures.
Overall, the bridge remains in good condition. Little has changed since construction for this bridge.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the lack of historic railroad truss bridges in North Dakota.
The photo above is an overview. The bridge can be accessed from a nearby neighborhood.