IANR Clarksville Millrace Bridge

In 1872, the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota railway company continued building on it’s mainline from Waterloo, Iowa. The new extension crossed the Cedar River at Cedar Falls, crossed the Shell Rock River at Rockford, bypassed Mason City and ended at Plymouth Jct, where it met up with an old Milwaukee Road line. 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.

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 the Nora Springs (12 miles east of Mason City) at the junction of the Milwaukee road to Shell Rock, near Waterloo. They operated as a shortline. It was completely purchased between Manly and Cedar Rapids by 1982, for a total of 5.4 Million.

Today, the Iowa Northern has a few more branch lines, but their mainline continues to be from Manly to Cedar Rapids. The line sees about 2 trains a day, and is in decent condition.
06/26/21

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Located on the south side of Clarksville, this deck girder bridge crosses the Clarksville Millrace, a swamp and creek that appears to be an old oxbow of the Shell Rock River.
Built in 1898, the bridge features a single deck girder span, set onto stone masonry abutments. The girder is unusual, as it has no ribs at the middle of the span. Judging by a 1914 postcard, the millrace used to have significantly more water in it.

1914 postcard photo

This type of small span is common along former BCR&N lines, due to the ease of construction and the permanent nature of the bridge.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in good condition, with no significant defects noted.

The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview.