Later that year, the line would be purchased by the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway; which completed the line. This line extended further south, and also connected many major lines for the railroad.
The goal of the line was to connect Fort Riley to Fort Scott by railroad. The railroad followed the Neosho River for most of the course.
Eventually, the southern portion of the line from Parsons to Chetopa became part of another mainline from Kansas city to Texas.
The remaining branch line never saw much traffic, and was abandoned after World War II. The first abandonment came in 1957, and included the trackage between Humboldt and Junction City.
In 1969, the line would again be cut back to Chanute.
The final portion of this line to be abandoned was in 1986, and included the Chanute-Parsons segment.
Today, little remains of the Neosho Division except grading and a handful of structures.
06/26/21
This beautiful bridge crosses Lyon Creek near Wreford, Kansas.
The location is on Otter Creek Road, south of Junction City and east of US-77.
This span features a single through truss span, built of 6 panels. This span also contains pinned connections. A short pair of trestle spans approach to the north.
Overall, the bridge remains in good condition. The bridge was heavily rehabilitated in 1913 and 1974. It officially opened to road use in 1974.
During the 1913 rebuild, the abutments were extensively rebuilt with new concrete structures.
The structure is a well known structure in the area. It was listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003, promoting long term preservation.
In addition, the bridge was built by Pencoyd Construction Company; which was later known as the A&P Roberts Company, which built numerous bridges for the MKT in the late 1890s.
The plaque for this bridge is located on the bottom endposts of the bridge.
The author has ranked this bridge as being regionally significant, due to the well preserved historical nature of the bridge.
The photo above is an overview. The bridge can be accessed from the road which it carries.