- 1864: 62 miles completed from Escanaba to Negaunee, Michigan by the Peninsula Railroad Company of Michigan
- 1865: Peninsula Railroad Company of Michigan acquired by the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1870: 5 miles completed from Negaunee to Ishpeming, Michigan by the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1871: 50 miles completed from Green Bay to Marinette, Wisconsin by the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1872: 65 miles completed from Marinette to Escanaba, Michigan by the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1888: 22 miles completed from Ishpeming to Republic, Michigan by the Iron Range Railway
- 1889: Iron Range Railway acquired by the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1997: Green Bay to Ishpeming segment sold to Wisconsin Central, Ltd
- 2001: Canadian National Railway acquires Wisconsin Central, Ltd
- 2001-Present: Canadian National operates the line between Green Bay and Ishpeming as the Marinette Subdivision
08/19/21
This very unique truss bridge once crossed the Escanaba River and ELS Railroad in Escanaba, and was a landmark in every sense to the town.
Unfortunately, it was replaced in 2015. While its successor will undoubtedly serve its job, it is nowhere near as appealing as the original structure.
The truss bridge was originally built with five spans in 1892. These riveted Quadrangular Lattice Through Truss spans were set onto stone abutments, and had a typical pedimented portal bracing.
However, to counter the increasing traffic, the railroad decided to rebuild the bridge in 1943. This was accomplished by splitting the spans, creating 10 short spans. New concrete and pile piers were installed.
These split spans were rebuilt with laced endposts on the interior portals, and A-Frame portal bracing.
These modifications only added to the uniqueness and historic integrity of the bridge. It created a visually appealing structure.
While five span Quadrangular Through Trusses certainly are nothing to look away from, a 10 span modification creates a very interesting structure.
Historic photo of the bridge
For this reason, the author rated this as one of the most significant railroad bridges in the area. Because of its age and uncompromising level of historic integrity, along with its almost unheard of uniqueness; it would have been nice to see the bridge at least rehabilitated instead of being replaced.
Unfortunately for the structure, the bridge was supposed to be replaced in 1943, likely due to a bad batch of iron. Two other identical bridges at Marinette were replaced in 1943 due to strength issues.
Canadian National has been extremely destructive in recent years with historic truss bridges in this region. Historic bridges at Manitowoc, Oshkosh and Green Bay have all been removed for various reasons.
In addition at this site, a failing concrete bridge formerly carrying US-41 and US-2 was removed at the same time.
The photo above is an overview, looking north. The photos of the historic bridge were used with permission, and were taken by Randy Mulder and Nathan Holth.
More info, and their page for the bridge can be found at Historicbridges.org
Unfortunately, I arrived in Late March 2016 to this site. This was too late to see the historic bridge. The replacement bridge photo was taken by John Marvig on this March 2016 morning.
All historic truss bridge photos were taken by Randy Mulder, unless noted.
Upstream | Wells Rail Bridge |
Successor | New Escanaba Rail Bridge |
Downstream | Mouth at Lake Michigan |