Railroad Bridge

Standing in downtown St Joe, Mo. this is where you would stand to watch trains cross the muddy Missouri River giving you a view into Elwood, Kansas farm fields on the other side. The first section called the swing section is often turned to allow the big barges an opening to go up and down the river. The bridge appears to have been built in 1904 by the American Bridge Company and the Swing span and substructures rebuilt in 1918. It’s estimated that only 6 trains a week use this bridge and if Union Pacific ever stopped using it the Army Corps of Engineers would probably require that the historic structure be removed even though it appears to be in sound condition.