- 1884: 104 miles completed from Waterloo to Des Moines, Iowa by the Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska Railway
- 1886: WI&N sold to the Chicago, St. Paul & Kansas City Railway
- 1887: 27 miles completed from Oelwein to Waterloo, Iowa by the Chicago, St. Paul & Kansas City Railway
- 1888: 159 miles completed from Des Moines, Iowa to St. Joseph, Missouri by the Chicago, St. Paul & Kansas City Railway
- 1890: 23 miles completed from St. Joseph, Missouri to Beverly, Missouri by the Leavenworth & St. Joseph Railway
- 1892: L&StJ merged into the Chicago, St. Paul & Kansas City Railway, trackage rights obtained over the Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific into Kansas City
- 1893: CStP&KC sold to the Chicago Great Western Railway
- 1909: Chicago Great Western Railway becomes the Chicago Great Western Railroad
- 1968: Chicago Great Western purchased by the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1984: Des Moines to St. Joseph segment abandoned due to acquisition of parallel Rock Island "Spine Line"
- 1985: Bondurant to Marshalltown segment abandoned
- 1985: Cedar Falls to Cedar Falls Junction segment abandoned
- 1986: St. Joseph to Kansas City segment abandoned
- 1989: Marshalltown to Cedar Falls Junction segment abandoned
- 1995: C&NW purchased by Union Pacific Railroad
- 2001: Bell Avenue Industrial Lead in Des Moines abandoned
- 2011: Bondurant Industrial Lead abandoned
- 1987-Present: Chicaqua Valley Trail uses the railroad grade from I-80 north of Des Moines to Baxter
- 1992-Present: Great Western Trail uses the railroad grade from Des Moines to Martensdale
- 1995-Present: Union Pacific leases the Cedar Falls to Oelwein segment to the Iowa Northern Railroad
- 1995-Present: Union Pacific operates small segments of the former route in Des Moines and Kansas City
06/26/21
Crossing the Cedar River in downtown Waterloo, this bridge survived the 2008 flood after being rebuilt.
Originally constructed in 1901, the bridge served Chicago Great Western trains for many years. It was later transfered to Iowa Northern, along with a short segment of line in the area.
All substructures were originally constructed of stone, but two piers were jacketed with concrete in the 1900s, and two were rebuilt after the 2008 flood.
During the 2008 flood, three spans were knocked off the piers, which caused the piers to fail.
The bridge was later rebuilt, and reopened to traffic. The flood of 2008 caused four other railroad and former railroad bridges to fail.
American Bridge Company was the chief contractor for this bridge, producing the eight through girder spans.
The author has rated this bridge as being moderately significant, due to the large scale design and older age of the bridge.
The photo above is an overview. The bridge can be accessed from nearby roads and trails.
| Upstream | Sans Souci Bridge (New) |
| Downstream | Evansdale Trail Bridge |