BNSF Route H Bridge (Liberty)

In 1851, the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad (H&StJ) began construction on 207 miles of new railroad, extending from Hannibal, Missouri to St. Joseph, Missouri.  Work was sporadic and slow going, with work progressing from both ends.  In 1857, a large segment from Hannibal to Hunnewell, Missouri was placed into service.  In 1858, segments between Hunnewell and Brookfield, Missouri and St. Joseph, Missouri and Kidman, Missouri were placed into service.  The same year, the Quincy and Palmyra Railroad (Q&P) began construction on a new line, extending 13 miles from Palmyra, Missouri to West Quincy, Missouri.  The two segments of the H&StJ would meet at Chillicothe, Missouri in February 1859, and the Q&P would be completed the following year.  The Q&P would be merged into the H&StJ in 1876.  The H&StJ was heavily affiliated with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q), which utilized this route to run traffic to and from Chicago.  In 1882, the Chicago, Burlington & Kansas City Railway (CB&KC) constructed 10 miles of new railroad, extending from Laclede to Sumner, originally graded between 1869 and 1871 by the Missouri Central Railroad.  An additional 30 miles to Carrollton would be completed by 1885.  The CB&Q took control of the H&StJ in 1883, and consolidated the H&StJ and CB&KC in 1901.  The CB&Q had acquired and constructed a large railroad network throughout the Midwest, and this route served as a principal mainline of the railroad, connecting Chicago and Kansas City.  At Cameron, Missouri; the route connected to another railroad to Kansas City, avoiding a lengthy bypass through St. Joseph. 

The main drawback of the route was the lengthy route into Kansas City.  The line between Cameron and Kansas City was single track, windy and not suitable for mainline traffic.  During the early 1950s, the CB&Q constructed a lengthy cutoff, extending from Laclede to Kansas City.  The new cutoff was completed in 1952, reusing a large portion of the Carrollton branch.  The new route saved significant time on a trip from Chicago to Kansas City, and reduced the need for the line west of Brookfield.  A portion of the line from Palmyra to Hannibal was abandoned in 1957.  In 1970, the CB&Q was merged with the Northern Pacific Railway and the Great Northern Railway to form Burlington Northern Railroad (BN).  The St. Joseph to Meadville segment would be abandoned in 1985, followed by the Meadville to Laclede segment in 1993.  In 1996, BN merged with Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway to form BNSF Railway.  BNSF currently operates the West Quincy to Laclede and Brookfield to Kansas City (cutoff) segments of this line as the western portion of the Brookfield Subdivision.