West Papio Trail - Hell Creek Bridge

In 1862, United States President Abraham Lincoln signed the Union Pacific Charter, declaring a railroad would be built west from Omaha, to a point on the West Coast at San Francisco.  Construction on the Union Pacific Railroad began in Omaha in 1865, with construction of a line extending south of Omaha, to Bellevue, Nebraska; where the line would turn west and extend to Millard.  The railroad then headed northwest to Fremont, Nebraska, being completed in December of that year.  The railroad then turned west along the Platte River Valley.  By the end of 1866, the railroad had reached North Platte, Nebraska; extending through the towns of Columbus, Grand Island and Kearney.  Some 240 miles of new railroad were constructed in 1866.  Work continued the following spring, reaching Cheyenne, Wyoming by the end of the year, some 500 miles west of Omaha.  Work continued westwards in 1868 and 1869, with the line meeting the Central Pacific Railroad at Promontory Point, Utah in 1869. 

This route became the backboke of the Union Pacific Railroad, known as the Overland Route.  A bridge was completed into Council Bluffs in 1872, where the line linked with the heavily used Chicago & North Western Railway mainline to Chicago.  Numerous revisions were made to the route throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries.  Much of the route was double tracked between 1900 and 1917, and the railroad was realigned in Omaha.  A new cutoff was constructed, bypassing the original route between Omaha and Millard.  The original route between Omaha and Millard was utilized as a secondary route.  The route between Paillion and Bellevue was abandoned in 1989, and two more miles on the west end were abandoned in 1994.  The original line was further abandoned in 2004, when the line was abandoned to Millard.  In 2024, Union Pacific continues to operate this line, and it handles considerable traffic.  Portions of the original line around Omaha have became a trail.  Union Pacific currently operates the Omaha Subdivision between Omaha and Fremont, the Columbus Subdivision between Fremont and Grand Island, the Kearney Subdivision between Grand Island and North Platte, and the Sidney Subdivision from North Platte to Cheyenne.