The first portion of construction started in 1886, when a 43 mile segment of line was built from Elwood, Kansas to Horton, Kansas.
This line would be continued in 1887 to Herington, Kansas. This line would go through the Kansas capitol of Topeka, and connect to several other railroads. In addition, the route used the Union Pacific (former Kansas Pacific) mainline between Topeka and Kansas City to reach Kansas City.
This new cross-Kansas mainline would be extended to Oklahoma the next year, and open opportunities for expansion to places such as Manhattan and Salina.
By 1891, the railroad became a part of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway. This line was instrumental in becoming a part of the Rock Island's mainline to the south.
In addition, major yard operations occurred in Armourdale, Kansas after 1903. In 1905, a new bridge was built across the Kansas River at this location.
Because of the high significance of this corridor, many parts of it were double tracked. This included track from Paxico to McFarland in 1917, track around Topeka in 1919, track from Topeka to Paxico in 1923, from Alta Vista to Herington in 1925 and from Alta Vista to Paxico in 1927.
The CRIP would be reorganized as the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad in 1947. The Rock Island oftentimes had major financial issues, and many of the lines saw significant deterioration.
The Rock Island would go bankrupt in 1980, and the St. Louis Southwestern Railway would purchase a half interest in the line in 1980, and purchase the other half in 1982. Around this same time, the Kansas City operations ceased and the Kansas River Bridge was abandoned.
Despite this, the second mainline was significantly removed in 1981, and the trackage between Elwood and Topeka would be removed the same year.
The SSW would be completely merged into the Southern Pacific Company in 1992, before being completely merged into Union Pacific in 1996.
Today, the Topeka-Herington segment of this line is owned and operated as a Union Pacific mainline; and is known as the Topeka Subdivision. Union Pacific continues to operate into Kansas City, as part of the Kansas Subdivision.
01/14/22
This unique overpass carries a Union Pacific mainline across K-4.
It was built in 1924 as part of an improvement plan by the Rock Island. The bridge was likely originally constructed to cross the creek below.
The bridge also crosses Lime Creek. It is a rather large structure which is a fairly iconic overpass.
The bridge consists of a massive deck girder span, approached by concrete arch spans on either side. The entire bridge is set onto concrete substructures.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in good condition. It is one of the busiest bridges along this line, due to the location at the end of a rail yard.
Because of this, the author has ranked it as being locally significant. Despite it being a unique underpass, it is still a common design and more modern.
The photo above is an overview.