The new extention would cross the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids, continue north through Shellsburg, Vinton and La Porte City before arriving in Waterloo.
In 1876, the railroad went into receivership and was sold to the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern. The BCR&N built 5 more miles to Manly, Iowa in 1877 where it then purchased trackage rights over the Iowa Central to Northwood. The Iowa Central never built past Northwood, and the BCR&N built to Albert Lea, where it could meet up with the M&STL. The Iowa Central used this line too.
After building and buying all the way to St. Paul, MN in 1902 the BCR&N was purchased by the Rock Island Railroad. (CRIP) The Rock Island had trackage rights in the St. Paul area. This completed the Spine Line. The Spine Line ran from St. Paul, MN to Kansas City, MO. This line was crucial to the Rock Islands health. The Spine Line ran through Mason City, splitting off at Manly, in Cerro Gordo County.
But the Rock Island was a poor railroad, often going into Bankruptcy. Negotiations began for a Union Pacific and Rock Island merger in 1960, and fell through in 1980. The line here was well engineered, but due to a suffering Rock Island became unkempt and unmaintained. The Rock Island entered receivership in 1980. The Iowa Northern purchased the portion from Cedar Rapids to Vinton. A few years later, they acquired the gaps between sections. They also acquired a 13 mile branch to Dysart from Vinton, which was abandoned in 1994.
Today, the Iowa Northern provides good service between Waterloo and Cedar Rapids, and is the only direct link between the towns remaining.
The track and bridges have been strengthened and rebuilt for stable operations.
06/26/21
This bridge is a six span deck girder bridge over Bear Creek, and is the northern crossing in Shellsburg.
It has an American Bridge Company plate from 1903, a stone carving from 1902 on the abutment and a Lassig Bridge & Iron Works plate outline.
According to Iowa Northern Railroad, the bridge was made of spans from 1897, 1901 and 1903. It is unknown why the bridge was constantly changing, but could be related to flooding or the need for a larger bridge.
It is also possible that random relocated spans were added in 1903, when the bridge was constructed.
Iowa Northern rehabilitated this bridge in 2011, and it is in good condition today.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design; despite the unique building situation.
The photo above is looking from the south bank. Thank you to TIGER and Iowa Northern for the blueprints!