American Bridge Co. built the three spans, totaling about 1,335 feet, in 1924 when the Chicago & Northwestern was running this route. Today, it’s part of the Union Pacific main line across the middle of the country.
In researching the history of the bridge, I learned that the C&NW predecessor here had a car ferry here early on and that during winters when the river froze over, there was even track laid across the ice. Steam locomotives shoved cars out on one side and another engine on the opposite shore coupled up and took them on. The power stayed off the ice, and the light cars made the trip across the frozen water. (Let me say this as a Southern fella, this is just pure WRONG on numerous levels.)
Now for the practical info: Traffic here is fast and frequent, though most of the trains here are westbounds as UP likes to run its eastbounds out of Fremont, Neb., via the Lane Cutoff through Omaha, Council Bluffs, Iowa, and returns to the former C&NW main at Missouri Valley, Iowa. I did catch a rare eastbound – a hot pig and stack train – but otherwise, everything was going west.
Unlike so many magnificent bridges, this one is easy to get to. U.S. 30 runs right beside it. If you want photos, there’s plenty of room to pull off. In fact, it may be too close for good railroad photography – I had to pull out a 14-24mm lens to get the eastbound.
So, there’s another big bridge that I can check off my list. I hope you’re a big bridge fan too, and I hope you’ll let us know what your favorite structure is, who runs there, and what’s the best way to see it safely from public property.
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