By 1859, the line was extended another 38 miles to Washington, Iowa. This route would later be expanded into Missouri and make up a significant aertery of the future Rock Island.
In 1866, the railroad was reorganized as the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. Known as the Rock Island, this historic railroad built extensive trackage through the midwest.
Unfortunately, the Rock Island was oftentimes a poor railroad. However, only a small portion of this line was abandoned in 1934 between Muscatine and Wilton.
The Rock Island went bankrupt in the spring of 1980 after much defered maintnance and restructuring. The route was absorbed by the struggling Milwaukee Road, which abandoned their own route between Washington and Muscatine.
The Milwaukee Road was purchased by Soo Line in 1985, and Soo Line purchased by Canadian Pacific the following year. By 1997, CP desired to sell this trackage, and sold it to I&M Rail Link, who became Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railway in 2002. IC&E later became part of Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad before DM&E became part of Canadian Pacific in 2008.
Today, the line is owned by Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern, a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway. The entirety of the 1859 extensenion is still in use.
04/03/22
Located in Washington, this steel stringer bridge crosses 2nd Avenue, the main north/south road through downtown Washington.
Built in 1936, the bridge features a single steel stringer span, commonly seen on depression era grade separation projects. In addition, the bridge is approached by a concrete slab span on either side, and sits on concrete substructures.
While many federal aid project grade separations like this have been allowed to deteriorate, this bridge still remains maintained. It has been painted as part of a community beautification project.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in excellent condition, with almost no substructure deterioration found on the bridge.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview.