The railroad was jointly owned by the Illinois Central Railroad, Michigan Central Railroad, Chicago & North Western Railway and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.
The purpose of the route was to provide a centralized route to connect two eastern railroads to two western railroads.
In the late 1890s, a track elevation was constructed south of downtown Chicago.
Today, the railroad still exists, and is jointly owned by the Canadian National Railway, Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway. In downtown Chicago, the route has significant restrictions, due to aging infrastructure.
12/03/21
This small girder bridge crossed Dearborn Street between 15th Street and 16th Street.
Built in 1899, the bridge featured a single through girder span, approached by deck girder spans on either side and set onto stone and steel substructures. The deck girder spans were unique, due to the lack of lateral bracing between them.
Dearborn Street at this location has been closed, likely due to the poor condition of the bridge. As part of an upgrade of the St. Charles Airline, the bridge was replaced between 2020 and 2021.
Overall, the bridge appeared to be in poor to serious condition at the time of replacement, with significant structural deterioration. The condition of this section of bridges had limited the speed on the route to 10 mph.
The author has ranked the bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview.