An easy one(as if all mine weren’t too easy).
This town is named after the location, or the location is named after the town. Mud Chicken would enjoy this spot on a Chicago-bound line-they had to build a bridge 3 times to get it right![;)] Where is it?
Is it west of the Mississippi, but still in the Midwest ?
yes
Council Bluffs, Iowa, has had three bridges (on the UP, as well as one independent bridge that IC later acquired.) But there are other midwestern locations that probably fit the bill, too.
On the other hand, you said “Chicago-bound railroad,” and since all midwestern railroads save one built away from Chicago, that rules out UP. The exception is Santa Fe, which after building westward from Atchison, Kansas, turned around and built east from Kansas City to Chicago.
S. Hadid
Do BNSF and/or UP still use the current bridge ?
no
yes
Does the bridge have a swing or lift span ?
no
Does the bridge cross the Mississippi?
no
Was it on the North Western or the Milwaukee Road ?
YES
Is it north of Omaha ?
Just kidding[:D] Milwaukee Road
In this part of the country, this place is where east meets west.
I want to say Missouri Valley but I don’t think that the MILW went there so I’m going with a complete shot in the dark Cedar Rapids.
Not Missouri Valley. In fact the Missouri isn’t that muddy at this place.
If we’re talking Milwaukee Road, it crossed the Missouri at Kansas City, Council Bluffs (via trackage rights on UP), Chamberlain, and Mobridge. Only Mobridge meets the criteria of “being named for a place.” But I would not characterize Milwaukee Road as “Chicago-bound,” at Mobridge one would, I think, commonly say it was “Seattle-bound.”
S. Hadid
Definately Mobridge- the third bridge was built in 1961 with the creation of Lake Oahe, necessitating the relocation of quite a bit of the transcon MILW main west of town. It was one of five large bridges in the midwest that the US Government built for the MILW from 1945-72 for Army Corps of Engineers dam and waterway projects- can anyone name the other four?