- 1882: 93 miles completed from Hopkins to Morton, Minnesota by the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway
- 1882: 123 miles completed from Morton to Watertown, South Dakota by the Wisconsin, Minnesota and Pacific Railway
- 1895: Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway reorganizes as the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad
- 1899: Morton to Watertown segment sold to the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad
- 1895: Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway reorganizes as the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad
- 1960: Minneapolis & St. Louis purchased by the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1969: Revillo to Watertown segment abandoned
- 1969: Stratford to Leola segment abandoned
- 1970: Madison, Minnesota to Revillo segment abandoned
- 1977: Watertown to Stratford segment abandoned
- 1977: Hanley Falls to Madison segment sold to Burlington Northern Railroad
- 1980: Hopkins to Norwood segment abandoned, Hopkins to Victoria segment purchased by Hennepin and Carver Counties for trail use
- 1982: Norwood to Hanley Falls segment abandoned
- 1983: Norwood to Hanley Falls segment purchased by the Minnesota Valley Regional Railroad Authority
- 1996: Burlington Northern merges with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway to form BNSF Railway
- 2002: Minnesota Prairie Line, a subsidiary of Twin Cities & Western Railroad begins operations on the Norwood to Hanley Falls segment
- 1980s-Present: Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail uses the railroad grade from Hopkins to Victoria
- 1996-Present: BNSF operates the Hanley Falls to Madison segment as the Hanley Falls Subdivision
- 2002-Present: Minnesota Prairie Line operates and continues to upgrade the Norwood to Hanley Falls segment
06/26/21
Once located between Fairfax and Gibbon, this standard pile trestle crossed Renville County Ditch #100.
Built in approximately 1940, the bridge featured seven timber trestle spans, set onto timber piles. Likely the most utilized design on American railroads, these designs were cheap and durable, despite having to regularly be replaced.
A build date is hard to confirm for this structure. With crossings dating to whenever the ditch was constructed, the bridge was likely upgraded numerous times.
The bridge was replaced in approximately 2016 with a new concrete box culvert. At the time of replacement, it was in a poor condition with fraying on the piles.
The author ranked this bridge as being minimally significant, due to the extremely common design.
The photo above is an overview from June 2011.