By the next year, the railroad would become a part of the Missouri Pacific Railway.
The Verdigris Valley, Independence and Western Railroad would continue the line south with an 81 mile extension to Coffeyville, Kansas in 1885.
Another extension would be made in 1886 between Kansas City, Missouri and Paola. This connection was built by the Kansas City and Southwestern Railway.
Both of these new railroads would become affiliated with the Missouri Pacific. The KC&SW would become a part of the MP in 1909.
However, the VVI&W merged into the Kansas and Colorado Pacific Railway in 1891, which in turn merged into the MP by 1909.
This line became an instrumental line for the Missouri Pacific. While it was not a class 1 mainline, it served as a direct route between Kansas City and Oklahoma.
By 1917, the railroad would be reorganized as the Missouri Pacific Railroad, under which it remained until 1982.
In 1982, the MP merged with Union Pacific and Western Pacific Railroad to form the Pacific Rail Systems. By 1997, the MP would be fully absorbed into the UP.
Presently, Union Pacific is the operator of this line, and it is known as the Coffeyville Subdivision.
06/26/21
This basic bridge is the second crossing of the Blue River, and consists of a simple and modern design.
It was built in 1954 as part of a railroad realignment through the area.
The bridge consists of 3 deck girder spans, and a pair of concrete slab spans on either approach.
The substructures for this bridge are made entirely of concrete.
The author has ranked this bridge as being minimally significant, due to the common design and very new age.
The photo above is an overview.
Blue River Railroad Bridges
| Upstream | UP Blue River Bridge #1 |
| Downstream | UP Blue River Bridge #3 |