This spur appears to have been opened in 1957, initially to haul equipment to the new power plant. In 1982, the MP was purchased by Union Pacific, and was formally merged in 1997.
It appears that the spur was abandoned prior to 2002, and Jackson County acquired the line in 2014 for future development.
06/26/21
Located on the east side of Independence at the ghost town of Lake City, this unique girder bridge was built to carry a spur over the Little Blue River.
While the spur was built in 1956-1957, it is clear that the main span of this bridge is far older. It appears that this span was originally designed to be a 70 foot turntable at an unknown location. When the spur was built, it was decided to reuse this span as a girder.
Currently, the bridge consists of this recycled turntable, and is approached by trestle on either side. The entire bridge rests on timber substructures. While the bridge was originally built to cross the Little Blue River, that river was relocated to a new channel to the west. As a result, the bridge now crosses an unnamed ditch, and the Little Blue Trace Trail Bridge.
It was common for railroads to recycle steel spans for branch lines and spurs. This helped keep costs down, while also not requiring contracts for new materials.
As steam engines became larger, turntables also became larger. Early turntables were as small as 60 feet, but the later turntables often exceeded 100 feet in length. Using this information, it seems that a 70 foot turntable was likely on a branch line somewhere, and built between 1900 and 1910.
The author is currently doing further research to find where this turntable may have come from, and when it dates to.
During documentation of this bridge, the author noted several details which confirm that this was a turntable. Among these include empty holes near the center, as well as additional bracings. Bolts replaced the original rivets where the bracings connected to the original turn mechanism.
In 2014, Jackson County purchased this bridge and the spur to the power plant. The future is relatively cloudy for this bridge, and it is not clear what will happen if this land is developed.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to good condition, with little significant deterioration noted.
The author has ranked this bridge as being regionally significant, due to the reuse of an older turntable span.
The photo above is an overview.