By 1885, the Council Grove, Osage City and Ottawa Railway built an additional 70 miles from Ottawa to Council Grove.
Together, these 90 miles of rail line served as a connector through the Flint Hills of Kansas.
In 1855, the Topeka, Salina and Western Railroad built to the west county line of Dickinson County.
The Missouri Pacific Railway in Kansas would complete the line to Salina later that year.
In 1880, the St. Louis, Kansas and Arizona was merged into the Missouri Pacific Railway.
By 1891, the Council Grove, Osage City and Ottawa Railway, the Topeka, Salina and Western Railway as well as the Missouri Pacific Railway in Kansas all merged into the Kansas and Colorado Pacific Railway.
By 1909, the Kansas and Colorado Pacific Railway was merged into the Missouri Pacific Railway, which reorganized as the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1917.
This line was a Missouri Pacific mainline; until the mid 1980s when the MP abandoned the Osawatomie to Herington segment of the line.
By 1996, the MP abandoned another large portion of this line between Hope, Kansas and Salina. By 1997, the MP was bought by rival Union Pacific.
There is one small section of this line that is still active, between Herington and Hope. This is known as the Hope Industrial Lead. The remainder of the line west of Herington is part of the Flint Hills Nature Trail; an incomplete rail trail through some of the most scenic areas of Kansas.
01/14/22
Read an article about the Schaub variant truss.
A rare modification on a standardized design, this unique truss bridge crosses the Smoky Hill River just east of Salina.
Built in 1903, the main span is a Schaub variant Warren Through Truss.
The Schaub variant truss is a take on the traditional Warren design, developed by Julius Schaub in 1901. While the original design featured a combination of pin and riveted connections, this bridge utilizes purely riveted connections, with no crash bars on the end panels.
The Schaub design offered a savings of material and a reduction of traditional stresses in truss members. Schaub considered it to be an ideal link between long pin connected spans and short riveted spans.
This structure is set onto concrete piers, and is approached by trestle. This is one of only a few bridges west of Hope on the former MP mainline to still exist.
The west approach trestle is likely unoriginal to the bridge. The west pier appears to have once been an abutment.
Overall, the bridge remains in good condition. It is used sparingly.
The author has ranked this bridge as being highly significant, due to the unique alterations.
The photo above is an overview.
| Upstream | MP Smoky Hill River Bridge |
| Downstream | Enterprise Rail Bridge (West) |