Located on the Missouri River, Chamberlain had been the western terminus of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway (Milwaukee Road) since 1881. With a new expansion, a pontoon bridge was built across the Missouri River, and the race to Rapid City was on.
In 1906, the railroad was further extended to Murdo, and reached Rapid City by 1907. By 1910, the Milwaukee Road fully engulfed the WRV.
This route became one of only two routes crossing the entire State of South Dakota. From Rapid City, plans were made to continue west, but these never materialized.
With the route dead ending at Rapid City, the route was a major cash hole to the railroad. Still reeling from a Pacific expansion made at the same time, the railroad was reorganized as the Chicago, Milwaukee St. Paul & Pacific Railway in 1913.
Traffic on the route was highly competitive, as the Chicago & North Western ran a main line just to the north, which roughly paralleled this route between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Rapid City.
Since this line became such a major expense, it was identified for abandonment in 1980, as the Milwaukee Road reorganized to avoid bankruptcy.
Fortunately, the State of South Dakota stepped in and bought the entire route between Sheldon, Iowa and Rapid City. However, no operator would be found until 1987, when the Dakota Southern Railway began operations on the route between Mitchell and Rapid City.
In 1998, the route was discontinued between Kadoka and Rapid City. However, all critical infrastructure is still in place, waiting for a train that may never come again.
Proposals have been made to recycle this segment as a trail, as it directly goes through the famous Badlands of South Dakota.
In 2021, the State of South Dakota sold the Mitchell-Rapid City line to Ringneck & Western Railroad; a subsidiary of Watco. The line is in service to Vivian, and the route to Rapid City may again see service in the future.
10/24/21
This bridge is a moderate sized Through Girder bridge over Medicine Creek on the east side of Presho.
Originally built in 1913 as part of a two span bridge #R-136 across an unnamed creek bridge near Ft. Atkinson, Iowa; these two spans were replaced in approximately 1920 and sent to Tomah, Wisconsin; where it sat for spare parts at the bridge shop.
In August 1922, it was decided that the original trestle at this location needed to be replaced by a permanent bridge. As part of the work, one span from R-136 was changed into a skew design by cutting stringers, and installed here between October 10th and October 17th of the same year. The design of the spans was standard for the Milwaukee Road, including curved ends and vertical center ends.
Currently constructed of a single through girder span, the bridge is approached by trestle spans. The entire structure is set onto wooden substructures.
Overall, the bridge remains in good condition. Work had been done to rehabilitate the bridge during the 2010s.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview. The bridge is easily accessible from Presho.