By 1868, the line would be completed. At the same time, the St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad would begin building from the state line towards St. Joseph.
The two lines were completed, and owned by the St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad by 1869.
By 1870, the line would change to the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad.
The line was built to connect Council Bluffs with Kansas City, and St. Joseph. The railroad was leased to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.
By 1901, the CB&Q completely purchased the railroad. The line connected to several CB&Q mainlines.
The CB&Q continued ownership of this line until 1970, when they merged with Great Northern and Northern Pacific to form Burlington Northern.
The BN operated this line until 1996, when they merged with Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe to form BNSF Railway, the current owners of this line.
Today, the Council Bluffs to Pacific Junction segment is known as the Council Bluffs Subdivision, the Pacific Junction to East Rulo section is known as the Napier Subdivision; and the remaining portions are part of the St. Joseph Subdivision.
10/25/22
This standard girder and slab bridge crossed Waubonsie Creek south of Bartlett, near I-29.
The bridge was built to be standard, crossing little more than a ditch. It was constructed in 1914.
It was built with two spans of concrete slab on either side, and a through girder span.
Resting on concrete substructures, little had changed about this bridge since it was first constructed. However, the bridge was destroyed in flash flooding in March 2019.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design of the bridge.
The photo above is an overview. The bridge was accessed from County Highway L31.