Later that year, the line would be extended further east to Marseilles.
This passenger system would parallel an existing Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway, the Illinois River, the I&M Canal and what would become US-6 (later I-80).
Two years later, additional extensions would be made. On the east end, the line would be extended another town east to Seneca. To the west, it would be extended from DePue to Princeton, through Bureau.
With the continuing success, and success of the Illinois Traction System to the south; the railroad continued to expand eastward.
1908 brought an expansion to the south as well. A spur was built to Streator, where it would connect to the Illinois Traction System; forming an interurban between St. Louis, Peoria, Chicago, Joliet and Springfield.
The next year, the line was expanded east to Morris, and it finally reached Joliet by 1912. In Joliet, the line connected to the Chicago and Joliet Electric Railway.
Unfortunately, with the dawn of the automobile; interurban service fell out of popularity, primarily in rural areas.
The first abandonment came in 1924, when the branch to Ladd was removed. By 1929, with the beginning of the Great Depression, the system would be cut back to DePue; and the Streator Branch abandoned.
Within 5 years of the Great Depression, this interurban went belly up. The last of the trackage was destroyed in 1934.
Even without the events of the Great Depression, the CO&P undoubtedly would have failed. US-6 was created for automobiles in 1926; the Rock Island continued passenger service until the 1978 and Interstate 80 was built between 1960 and 1962.
However, in present day; one can find many remains of the CO&P, including reused bridges, and a trail along significant parts of the grade.
08/26/21
This unique structure is a remnant of the former Chicago, Ottawa & Peoria Interurban, and was converted to a local road use.
Little is known about the history of the bridge. According to some sources, the first bridge here was built in the early 1830s as a wooden wagon bridge. At some point, Cambria Iron Company fabricated a new truss and beam bridge for this location. It is likely this happened between 1885 and 1892.
When the CO&P Interurban built through the area around 1902-03, the company purchased and converted the existing 19th century bridge at this location to carry railroad traffic. Sometime prior to the 1920s, automobiles began sharing the bridge.
The main span of this bridge is a 7 panel, pin connected Pratt Deck Truss. The bridge was very lightly constructed, a statement to the wagon traffic it was originally constructed to carry.
In addition, the east approach was originally built of a pair of steel stringer spans, which collapsed in 1988. This was replaced by a modern span after the collapse. The bridge sits on concrete and stone substructures.
One unique detail of this bridge is the lack of bottom struts. This implies that the bridge was never meant to carry loads heavier than a basic streetcar, and after abandonment by the interurban, was never rebuilt for modern traffic.
Presently, it serves Rockwell Road, historically known as Canal Street.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to poor condition, with deterioration and strengthening noted throughout the structure.
The author has ranked the bridge as regionally significant, due to the reuse of a railroad structure.
The photo above is an obscured overview of the structure, which good overviews are hard to come by, partially due to its proximity to the IAIS Bridge downstream.