This is the site of the train accident on that fateful 1881 night where Kate Shelley made her heroic run.
The Shelley homestead was not far from this bridge. This bridge was built in 1912 to replace a pony truss, which replaced the collapsed trestle.
The pony truss likely found its way onto a local road over the current Union Pacific line. C&NW rebuilt a lot of railroad pony trusses for road use.
When I went here on a guided tour in August 2013, Ames and Central Iowa had been hit with a powerful thunderstorm the night before, so Honey Creek had flooded.
The ruins are on county property. One can walk a foot path from Montana Road. The photo above is looking at the west abutment.
The author has ranked this bridge as being moderately significant, due to the history at this location.