- 1890: 44 miles completed Madison to Litchfield, Illinois by the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad
- 1900: CP&StL acquired by the Litchfield & Madison Railway
- 1901: 83 miles completed from Nelson to Peoria, Illinois by the Peoria & Northwestern Railway
- 1901: P&NW acquired by the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1904: 24 miles completed from Benld to Girard, Illinois by the Macoupin County Railway
- 1912: Macoupin County Railway sold to the St. Louis, Peoria & Northwestern Railway
- 1913: 93 miles completed from Kickapoo (Peoria) to Benld, Illinois by the St. Louis, Peoria & Northwestern Railway
- 1913: StLP&NW sold to the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1913: 4 miles completed from Girard to Staunton by the Macoupin County Extension Railway
- 1914: Macoupin County Extension leased to the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1927: 3 miles completed from Staunton to the Litchfield & Madison at DeCamp by the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1957: Litchfield & Madison purchased by the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1995: Chicago & North Western purchased by Union Pacific Railroad
- 1998: DeCamp to Stallings segment abandoned
- 1998: Barr to Girard segment abandoned
- 1998: DeCamp to Monterey Junction sold to Norfolk Southern Railroad
- 1995-Present: Union Pacific operates the Peoria Subdivision from Nelson to Barr
- 1995-Present: Union Pacific operates the Monterey Subdivision from Nilwood to Monterey Junction
- 1995-Present: Union Pacific operates the Granite City Industrial Lead from Madison to Granite City
- 1998-Present: Norfolk Southern operates the Monterey Branch from DeCamp to Monterey Junction
- 2010-Present: Sangamon Valley Trail is developed in pieces between Barr and Girard
08/26/21
Located in Bellevue, this large through truss bridge is the third crossing of Kickapoo Creek on this line.
Built in 1902, the bridge originally consisted of a riveted Quadrangular Through Truss span with laced endposts and a trestle approach. However, the approach was replaced with nine I-Beam spans in 1941, which now serve as the south approach. Th bridge sits on concrete and steel pile substructures. The truss follows standard design, with A-Frame portals.
While nationally the Quadrangular design is uncommon, it was popular with midwestern railroads, particularly the Chicago & North Western.
While the C&NW had been building Lattice and Quadrangular trusses since the mid 1870s, this generation cemented the popularity of them, and they would be built new until the late 1920s.
Today, the bridge continues to serve as a Union Pacific secondary line. The bridge sits next to a BNSF bridge.
Overall, the bridge is in poor condition. Much of the bottom of the bridge has serious section loss. However, much of the upper portions of the truss appear to still be in fair condition. It is hoped that the deteriorated components will be replaced, instead of a complete truss replacement.
Historic photo of the bridge, used with permission from the Chicago & North Western Historical Society
The author has ranked this bridge as being moderately significant, due to the truss design.
The photo above is an overview.