Winona Bridge Railway, Winona, MN

The Winona Bridge Railway was organized in the late 1880s to own and operate a second railroad bridge over the Mississippi River at Winona, Minnesota. The bridge idea was conceived of by the Winona & Southwestern Railway. Congress granted a charter for the bridge, but required that it be open to anyone who was willing to pay the bridge toll. This was the first bridge over the Mississippi River to be required to be open access. Since both the Chicago, Burlington, & Northern and the Green Bay, Winona, & Saint Paul railroads both wanted to use the bridge, the Winona Bridge Railway was created to with these two railroad in partnership with the Winona & Southwestern.

The Winona Bridge Railway consisted of 5,440 feet of track as follows, starting on the Minnesota side and heading east across the river:

1,915 feet of approach track
270 feet of trestle
420 foot swing span
360 foot long modified Pratt truss
240 foot long modified Pratt truss
240 foot long modified Pratt truss
1,100 feet of trestle
895 feet of embankment

The crossing was a single track capable of supporting a moving load of 3,000 pounds per linear foot. This was heavy for its time, but was light for a bridge after World War II. The truss spans were a combination of steel and wrought iron. The tie bars and boom chords were steel, but all other parts were iron. The modification to the standard Pratt truss style was that the top of of the trusses were rounded rather than horizontal. The swing span was mounted on a circular pier that was 30 feet in diameter and was powered by a 20 horse steam engine.

While the Winona Bridge Railway was successful, the three partner railroads did not fare quite as well. The Winona & Southwestern went bankrupt in the panic of 1893. It was sold to the Winona & Western, which later became part of the Chicago & Great Western, the Chicago & North Western, which is now part of the Union Pacific. The Green Bay, Winona, & Saint Paul Railroad went into bankruptcy and was sold at foreclosure in 1896, where its rights to the WBR were purchased by the Green Bay Route. The Chicago, Burlington, & Northern did enjoy success with its partner relationship with the Chicago, Burlington, & Qunicy, but it ceased to be an independent railroad when it was purchased outright by the CB&Q in 1899. The CB&Q became part of the Burlington Northern, and operates today as part of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.

Traffic over the WBR began to wane in the latter half of the 20th Century due to the bridge not being able to handle modern 100-ton rail cars. The bridge was closed in 1985 due to the trestle sections having deteriorated. The Burlington Northern had plans to create a new bypass route to Seattle, and purchased the Green Bay Route's share of the WBR. However, that plan fell through. A section of the bridge burned on December 17, 1989. It was decided to not repair the structure, so it was dismantled in 1990.

The tracks leading to the west end of the Winona Bridge Railway still exist and are still in use. A section of embankment still extends into the the channel of the Mississippi River. This can be seen from a levee that runs along the river, with access from a boat landing located just downstream. I haven not visited the east side of the Mississippi River, but aerial photos suggest that a section of embankment still exists on the Wisconsin side of the river.

The photo above is looking northeast towards the end of the tracks where the Winona Bridge Railway once crossed the Mississippi River. The photo below is looking northeast across the river where the MBR bridge once crossed the Great River.