In Owatonna, the line connected to the Minnesota Central Line towards the Twin Cities. The same year, the route continued through Cresco, meeting an existing route at Calmar, Iowa by the end of the year.
The line primarely served as a connecting line between Austin and an existing mainline at Calmar. The same year, the route became part of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway.
By 1874, the Milwaukee & St. Paul became the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, commonly known as the Milwaukee Road.
During the early years of the 20th Century, the Milwaukee Road greatly upgraded routes, and built a new mainline to the Pacific Ocean at Seattle. An expensive route, this extension sent the Milwaukee Road into financial turmoil.
By 1925, the Milwaukee Road had declared bankruptcy and reorganized as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad in 1928.
This line saw little change throughout the years. While the Milwaukee Road saw success in the post-WWII years, the Midwest was heavily overbuilt with numerous railroads. As a result, the Milwaukee Road again entered bankruptcy in 1974, and begun significantly trimming route mileage.
The Pacific extension was formally abandoned west of Miles City, Montana in 1980; and numerous other routes were abandoned between 1980 and 1982.
In 1985, the Soo Line Railroad purchased the struggling Milwaukee Road. On January 1st, 1986; the Milwaukee Road ceased to exist, completely merging into Soo Line.
As a continuing effort to cull excess lines, the entire Austin-Calmar route was abandoned in 1983. The Minnesota DNR initially purchased the right-of-way between Rose Creek and Adams for the Shooting Star State Trail. While the remaining Austin-LeRoy segments are abandoned, the trail now runs roughly parallel through the entire length. In Iowa, a short trail from Calmar to Cresco also uses the former railroad grade.
In 1985, the Soo Line Railroad purchased the struggling Milwaukee Road, including the Austin-Owatonna segment of this line. On January 1st, 1986; the Milwaukee Road ceased to exist, completely merging into Soo Line.
The Soo Line had been a part of the Canadian Pacific Railway system since 1984, when they purchased Soo as a subsidiary. CP continued operations of the Mason City-Austin route under the Soo Line name, until April of 1997, when it sold nearly 1,400 miles of trackage to I&M Rail Link.
By 2002, the routes owned by I&M were transferred to Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad, a subsidiary of Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern. DM&E and IC&E were purchased by Canadian Pacific Railway in October 2008.
Today, CP continues to operate this route as subsidiary Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern. It is known as the Owatonna Subdivision, seeing approximately four trains per day.
06/26/21
Located on the north side of Austin, this steel stringer bridge crosses Interstate Highway 90 and US Highway 218.
Built in 1957, this was the fist segment of Interstate Highway opened in Minnesota. Originally authorized in 1955, this segment was well underway in 1956, when President Eisenhower authorized the Interstate Highway Act.
The third and final iteration of US Highway 16 in Austin; this highway was originally intended as a bypass for US Highway 16 around the city, known as "Highway 252". A major industrial center, the previous alignment built between 1934 and 1939 had grown unfit for traffic.
By December 1955, plans were designed and bid for a bypass around the north side of Austin. Soon after, the State Highway Department learned of the Interstate Highway Act, which was set to pass the next summer. Plans were redesigned for Interstate 90, which did not open through here until 1961, four years after original construction began on this bridge.
After I-90 through South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin was completed in 1978, US-16 was completely removed from maps in 1980.
The bridge here consists of a four span steel stringer, featuring a ballasted deck, concrete fascia and concrete substructures. The piers of the bridge feature concrete arches, typical of the earliest Interstate era bridges in Minnesota.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to good condition, with no significant deterioration. The future of the bridge is somewhat cloudy, as this segment of Interstate Highway is one of the oldest in Minnesota, and out of date. The highway between 28th Street and Oakland Avenue features a narrow median, and has concrete pavement that is nearly 40 years old. MNDOT is planning on replacing several bridges along I-90 nearby in the coming years, and it is unknown if this may include a complete rebuild through the area.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview.