The concept of the railroad was first formed in 1846, at the office of John Marshall Clemmens in Hannibal, Missouri. Clemmens would become most well known for fathering Samuel Clemmens, commonly known by the pen name as Mark Twain.
Construction started at both ends in 1851, and was funded by bonds from the various counties, as well as the donation of significant amounts of land.
The two lines finally met in February of 1859 at Chillicothe, Missouri; located in the north central portion of the state.
The railroad had many historic factors playing into it. In 1859, future American President Abraham Lincoln boarded the train en route to Council Bluffs, Iowa for a speech.
In addition, the first assignment of Col. Ulysses S. Grant during the American Civil War was to protect the railroad. The railroad was critical for communication, and was a critical link to the Pony Express.
Shortly after Grant left his position, a railroad bridge across the Platte River near St. Joseph was burned, killing nearly 20 people. This would be the biggest disaster along the line.
In 1858, the Quincy and Palmyra Railroad built a line between Quincy and Palmyra, Missouri. This connected the line to Illinois. At Palmyra, it met with the existing mainline. The Quincy and Palmyra would be acquired by the H&StJ shortly after completion.
In turn, the H&StJ would be absorbed by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy in 1883. The CB&Q had amassed a considerable amount of trackage throughout the midwest, and this would serve as a mainline.
Due to the demand of traffic trying to get to Kansas City, a new line would be constructed in 1954. This line would leave the existing mainline at Brookfield, Missouri and head in a Southwest direction to Kansas City, entering the city on Wabash Trackage rights.
This led to the remaining line west of Brookfield being reduced to a branch line. Also, in 1957 the CB&Q would abandon the section from Palmyra to Hannibal.
In 1970, CB&Q merged with Northern Pacific and Great Northern to form Burlington Northern, a large conglomerate which had significant trackage throughout the midwest. By 1985, BN would abandoned the section between Laclede and St. Joseph.
By 1996, the BN would merge with rival Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe to form BNSF. The line roughly parallels the Marcelline Subdivision, which sees the bulk of the traffic. However, this route has served as a reliable backup and local route, and is currently known as the Brookfield Subdivision.
Because of the nature of the entire Brookfield Subdivision, which runs from Kansas City to Galesburg, Illinois; this is considered the western half of the line.
12/23/21
View an article about the construction of this bridge.
This large Deck Girder bridge crosses Quincy Bay in Quincy. Quincy Bay is a large side channel of the Mississippi River.
The bridge was built in 1960 during a line relocation. The old bridge across Quincy Bay was a swing bridge, and still exists today as the Quinsippi Park Road Bridge.
The bridge contains 7 spans, each at 100 feet. It is set onto large concrete substructures.
The author has ranked the bridge as minimally significant, due to the age and common nature of the design.
The photo above is an overview.
Mississippi River Railroad Bridges
| Upstream | Keokuk-Hamilton Bridge |
| Main Channel | Quincy Rail Bridge |
| Downstream (West Channel) | Quinsippi Island Road Bridge |
| Downstream (Main Channel) | Quincy Swing Bridge |