The line crossed across the Big Sioux a number of times, crossing between Iowa and South Dakota.
The line was merged into the Sioux City and Dakota Railroad in 1879.
By 1881, the line became a branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, also known as the Milwaukee Road.
In 1913, following an escapade to the Pacific Ocean, the railroad became known as the Chicago, Milwaukee St. Paul & Pacific Railway.
Heading north out of Sioux Falls, the Milwaukee Road also operated a branch to North Dakota.
By 1981, with the Milwaukee Road falling to bankruptcy, the Dakota & Iowa (D&I) Railroad was formed as a joint coalition between Iowa and South Dakota to operate the former branch to Sioux City.
Today, D&I continues to operate the line from Sioux Falls to Sioux City, as well as the Dell Rapids branch.
09/15/21
Located near the forgotten station of Austin, this truss bridge is the third of six crossings of the Big Sioux River along this line.
According to records found at the South Dakota State Historical Society, the bridge originally consisted of three through girder spans. When these became unsuitable for this crossing, they were replaced with secondhand spans.
The main truss is a 6-panel, pin connected Pratt Pony Truss. This truss follows a standard design for the Milwaukee Road, and was originally built in 1900 at Mosquito Creek near Neola, Iowa. When the Neola bridge was replaced, the truss was disassembled and moved to the station grounds at Austin, where it was extensively rebuilt and strengthened.
Approaching the truss to the south is a single 50-foot deck plate girder recovered from Bridge #I-794 at an unknown Clay County, Missouri location. It is believed I-794 may have been on the Milwaukee Road line that was abandoned in conjunction with the realignment and construction of the Rock Island and Milwaukee Road joint mainline between Birmingham, Missouri and Polo, Missouri in 1931. It is known that the girder was shipped whole to Tomah, Wisconsin and sent to this location in November 1932.
By January 1933, the steel spans had been installed and the trestle approaches renewed. The three through girder spans from the previous bridge were then shipped to Tomah, where they were likely reused elsewhere. It is possible that they may still exist today.
Since then, no alterations have been made to the steel spans. The trestle approaches have been upgraded since, particularly in 2014.
The author has ranked this bridge as being moderately significant, due to the relocation history.
The photo above is an overview.
| Upstream | Fairview Rail Bridge |
| Downstream | DAIR Hudson Rail Bridge |