The railroad would reach Mason City by 1869, creating a vital link from Central Iowa to the Mississippi River.
In 1869, the McGregor & Missouri River Railway Company continued building the mainline from Mason City, heading west. They reached Algona by the end of the year, and halted construction.
The McGregor & Missouri River Railway was purchased by the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway in 1870, which was in turn absorbed into the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway in 1874.
The line continued west in 1878, and reached Canton, South Dakota by 1880. The line met at the junction of another north-south line here.
The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway was spun into the Chicago, Milwaukee St. Paul & Pacific Railway in 1913, after the pacific expansion.
The line was vital to the Northern Iowa economy, crossing a wide variety of other lines. In Sheldon and Algona, it crossed Chicago & North Western lines, while at Emmetsburg it crossed a Rock Island Line.
Eventually, the route fell into disrepair west of Sheldon, and the Milwaukee Road hit bankruptcy. During the mass abandonments, 791 Miles in Iowa were abandoned. From Sheldon, west to Canton was part of these.
When the Soo Line purchased the Milwaukee Road in 1985, the line from Marquette to Sheldon was sold to I&M Rail Link in 1997, during a mass selloff of Milwaukee Road lines.
The I&M Rail Link became part of the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railway in 2002, which was purchased by the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railway the same year.
In October of 2008, the DM&E was purchased by Canadian Pacific Railway, who is the current owners of this line, but DM&E operates as a dependant subsidiary.
10/24/21
Located in the middle of Nora Springs, this through girder bridge was built to replace an older truss bridge.
The previous bridge at this location was a pin connected Pratt Through Truss, likely built in the mid 1890s. Like many other structures along the former Milwaukee Road, it eventually became too light for trains, and was replaced by the current structure around 1996.
While the current bridge does not appear to be anything special, it is actually built using two relocated through girder spans. These spans appear to have been part of the same bridge. There is some belief among railroad employees that the bridge was probably in place by early 1997, despite 1998 writing on the pier.
Currently, the bridge consists of a 75 foot through girder and a 65 foot through girder. It is likely that the 65 foot through girder was cut down upon being moved here. The bridge rests on stone, concrete and steel pile substructures. It also appears that the girder was rebuilt with a new floor system upon being moved.
It appears that the girders date to Ca. 1910. While relocating spans was much more common prior to the modern era, it still occasionally happens in emergencies or when quality secondhand material is available.
The author has struggled to find a likely original location for these spans. It is believed these spans are likely from a Milwaukee Road bridge, although it is unknown if I&M Rail Link pulled the spans from one of their lines or if the Soo Line provided them.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in excellent condition, with no significant deterioration.
Historic photo of the bridge
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview.
| Upstream | DM&E Shell Rock River Bridge (Plymouth) |
| Downstream | IANR Shell Rock River Bridge (Rockford) |