- 1871: 72 miles completed from Hastings to Glencoe, Minnesota by the Hastings & Dakota Railway
- 1872: 72 miles from Hastings to Glencoe, Minnesota sold to the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway
- 1874: Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway changes name to the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway (Milwaukee Road)
- 1880: 128 miles completed from Glencoe to Ortonville, Minnesota by the Hastings & Dakota Railway
- 1880: H&D purchased by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway
- 1880: 69 miles completed from Ortonville to Brisol, South Dakota by the Milwaukee Road
- 1881: 10 miles completed from Bristol to Andover, South Dakota by the Milwaukee Road. This segment was difficult to build, due to the massive plateau and an elevation change of 400 feet
- 1881: 10 miles completed from Bristol to Andover, South Dakota by the Milwaukee Road
- 1882: 30 mile "Benton Cutoff" completed from Minneapolis to Cologne, Minnesota by the Milwaukee Road
- 1882: 29 miles completed from Andover to Aberdeen, South Dakota by the Milwaukee Road
- 1883: 26 miles completed from Aberdeen to Ipswich, South Dakota by the Milwaukee Road
- 1885: 30 miles completed from Ipswich to Bowdle, South Dakota by the Milwaukee Road
- 1900: 32 miles completed from Bowdle to Glenham, South Dakota by the Milwaukee Road
- 1912-15: Majority of Minneapolis to Aberdeen route realigned, grade separated and double tracked, except Bird Island to Granite Falls segment
- 1934: Second track removed from Hopkins to Hector and Summit to Groton
- 1947: Second track removed from Granite Falls to Milbank
- 1953-57: Remaining second track removed
- 1935: Hastings to Farmington segment abandoned
- 1978: Shakopee to Cologne segment abandoned, Chaska to Shakopee segment purchased for trail use
- 1980: Farmington to Shakopee segment abandoned
- 1982: Appleton to Andover segment sold to Burlington Northern, Andover to Miles City, Montana segment purchased by State of South Dakota and operated by BN
- 1986: Soo Line purchases the Milwaukee Road and takes over Minneapolis to Aberdeen route
- 1990: Soo Line controlled as a subsidary by Canadian Pacific Railway
- 1991: Twin Cities & Western Railroad purchases Hopkins to Appleton segment
- 1996: Cedar Lake Junction to Hiawatha Avenue segment abandoned and acquired for trail use
- 1996: Minnesota River Bridge at Chaska removed, portion of trail abandoned
- 1996: Burlington Northern merges with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway to form BNSF Railway
- 1990-Present: Canadian Pacific operates the Cedar Lake Junction to Hopkins segment as the Bass Lake Spur
- 1991-Present: Twin Cities & Western operates the Hopkins to Appleton segment
- 1996-Present: BNSF operates the Appleton to Aberdeen segment as the Appleton Subdivision
- 1996-Present: BNSF operates the Aberdeen to Hettinger, North Dakota segment as the Mobridge Subdivision
- 1981-Present: Segment near Shakopee used as the Minnesota Valley Trail, formerly the Chaska-Shakopee Trail
- 2000-Present: The Midtown Greenway operates in the "29th Street Trench" through South Minneapolis
02/25/23
Carver at one time had two major railroad bridges, with this being the northern of the two structures.
The original structure was built in 1872, and replaced at least twice. The first bridge was a large wooden deck truss structure.
In the 1880s, it was replaced with a large wooden trestle, and a deck girder span was added from Bridge #A-158 (Rondout, IL).
By 1936, it was desired to build a new structure. The bridge was completely rebuilt with six secondhand deck girder spans, trestle approaches and wooden towers.
At the time of removal, the bridge consisted of the following spans:
3 span pile trestle (last renewed 1936)
1-47' fishbelly deck girder (Built Ca. 1900 at an unknown location)
1-33' deck girder (Built Ca. 1900 at an unknown location)
1-62' fishbelly deck girder (Built Ca. 1900 at an unknown location)
1-33' deck girder (Built Ca. 1900 at an unknown location)
1-60' fishbelly deck girder (Built Ca. 1900 at an unknown location)
1-33' deck girder (Built Ca. 1900 at an unknown location)
3 span pile trestle (last renewed 1953)
At some point, the deck girder spans were twinned, using four girders. It is unknown where these spans came from, and they may have come from nearby or far away.
The towers of this unique bridge were also unusual, using tension cables and timber posts.
In 1981, the bridge was removed due to liability issues. There was reportedly a push to preserve the structure, which inevitably fell through.
The bridge was notorious for snowmobiles, jeeps and other all-terrain vehicles crossing it after being abandoned.
If the bridge was still extant, the author would have given it a ranking of regional significance, due to the unique design and rather large scale for this area.
The photo above was taken by Vern Wigfield, and is looking west along the bridge.
Photos that made this page possible were contributed by Vern Wigfield (VW), John Hill (JH) and Carver on the Minnesota (*)