- 1880: 8 miles completed from Spooner to Trego, Wisconsin by the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway
- 1881: 15 miles completed from Chippewa Falls to Bloomer, Wisconsin by the Chippewa Falls & Northern Railway
- 1881: 9 miles completed from Trego to Lakeside, Wisconsin by the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway
- 1882: 55 miles completed from Bloomer to Chicago Junction (Spooner), Wisconsin by the Chippewa Falls & Northern Railway
- 1882: 15 miles from Chippewa Falls to Bloomer sold to the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway
- 1882: 52 miles completed from Lakeside to Itasca, Wisconsin by the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway
- 1883: 11 miles completed from Eau Claire to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin by the Eau Claire & Chippewa Falls Railway
- 1883: The CF&N and EC&CF are acquired by the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway
- 1883: The Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway is controlled by the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1884: 6 miles completed from Itasca to Superior, Wisconsin by the Superior Short Line Railway
- 1895: The Superior Short Line is acquired by the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway
- 1957: The Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway is leased by the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1972: The Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway is fully absorbed by the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1987: Parallel Soo Line trackage between Gordon and superior purchased by Wisconsin Central Ltd
- 1992: Cameron to Superior line sold to Wisconsin Central, Ltd
- 1992: Rice Lake to Superior line abandoned. WCL begins using Gordon-Superior section and abandons the Soo Line route
- 1995: Chicago & North Western purchased by Union Pacific Railroad
- 1998: Wild Rivers State Trail opens between Rice Lake and Ambridge
- 2001: Canadian National Railway acquires Wisconsin Central, Ltd
- 2004: Wisconsin & Northern Railroad begins leasing the Chippewa Falls to Cameron segment
- 1995-Present: Union Pacific operates the Chippewa Falls Subdivision between Eau Claire and Cameron
- 2001-Present: Canadian National operates the Cameron to Ladysmith branch
- 2004-Present: Wisconsin & Northern leases the Chippewa Falls to Cameron segment
11/12/21
Located across the Chippewa River in Chippewa Falls, this massive through truss is an iconic railroad bridge in the city.
The bridge was originally built 1891, and consisted of six Quadrangular Through Truss spans, set onto timber substructures. In addition, the bridge was approached by trestle on each end.
Historic photo of the bridge
The bridge remained largely unchanged until July 20th, 1993. On this date, someone intentionally set the bridge on fire, causing the northern two spans to fail.
As a response, three deck girder spans were brought in from a nearby bridge over Lake Wissota, and were installed on steel pile piers. The Lake Wissota bridge was originally built in 1916.
For another 20 years, the bridge again remained unchanged. However, in 2014, the bridge was upgraded to handle modern sand loads.
The remaining wooden piers were replaced, and the approaches were replaced with modular concrete beam spans. In addition, the trusses were heavily strengthened at this time.
Overall, the bridge in good condition. Recent rehabilitations likely make this bridge safe from demolition for the near future.
The author has ranked this bridge as being highly significant, due to the old age and unique rebuilds.
Below, Tom Larson contributed photos of the bridge fire, contributed by Tom Larson. The photo above is a current overview of the structure.
| Upstream | Lake Wissota Bridge |
| Downstream | UP Chippewa River Bridge |
Tom Larson Photos
