By 1872, the WRI&G became part of the Western Union Railroad. The WU officially became part of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway in 1900.
In 1903, the route between Port Byron and Savannah was constructed by the Milwaukee Road. The route was part of the Davenport, Rock Island & Northwestern Railroad, which was jointly owned by the Milwaukee Road and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy.
The Milwaukee Road used this as a main line, as it was part of the route between Chicago and Kansas City. It paralleled another Milwaukee Road main line on the Iowa banks of the Mississippi.
In 1902, a route was constructed between Ebner and a point on the Illinois Division near Mt. Carroll. This route was abandoned in 1952.
In 1980, a large section was abandoned between Fulton and Savannah. By 1985, the Milwaukee Road became part of the Soo Line.
When the DRI&NW was dissolved in 1995, the Burlington Northern became the primary owner of the route. It is now owned by BNSF between Rock Island and south of Albany. The remainder between Albany and Fulton was abandoned in 2006.
02/25/23
Located near the town of Cordova, this small stone arch bridge crossed an unnamed stream.
Built in 1866, little is known about this bridge. It consisted of a single stone arch culvert span, with wooden cribbing bracing the bridge inside.
The cribbing inside, rebuilt wing walls and a concrete reinforcement all pointed to this bridge being in poor condition.
Unfortunately, the bridge was replaced by metal pipe culverts in early 2019.
Overall, the bridge appeared to be in fair to poor condition at the time of replacement, with widespread deterioration.
The author has ranked this bridge as locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview.