The line became part of the Chicago, Milwaukee & Saint Paul by 1874, which was vastly expanding its empire across the midwest. It had already reached into Iowa and Minnesota, along with extensive networks in Wisconsin and Illinois.
The line was double tracked in the late 1880s and early 1890s, and was part of the Milwaukee to Saint Paul mainline.
The CMStP reorganized into the Chicago, Milwaukee Saint Paul & Pacific in 1912, as it began expanding its empire towards Seattle.
This line saw some of the most stable traffic of the Milwaukee Road, which generated trains day and night.
When the Milwaukee Road fell out of buisness in 1985, it became part of the Soo Line, who eventually dissolved its Wisconsin lines. Most of the Soo Line went to Canadian Pacific, including this line. Canadian Pacific later sold lines off to Wisconsin Central. This line was not included.
Canadian Pacific is the current operator of this line, which sees nearly 110 trains per day, and is the main route from Chicago to Saint Paul with the Amtrack. It is known as the C&M Subdivision.
06/26/21
This bridge is one of the more unique concrete slab bridges in existence.
Facing west, it looks like a simple art deco design, but facing east, a concrete arch fascia remains.
The bridge is relatively historic, and retains a good integrity. The pier is also extremely elongated on the east side (see picture #4).
Overall, the bridge remains in fair condition with some deterioration.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview. The bridge can be accessed from the road below.