Brian Parkinson

Work is underway to restore the East portal as of Nov. 2012

I didn't have my own camera when this bridge was torn down, so I have no photos to share. Something which made this bridge unique was that it had the railroad's stylized logo cast into the concrete molding of the support beams. Passengers riding on the rails could see it as they went by. "Frisco Lines". Around 2000/2001, the bridge was nearly damaged by a derailed train car, which passed completely through before completely derailing and creating quite a wreck about a half mile to the east.

Would you believe that 'back in the day' (Before 1935) Harrisonville had 4 different railroads? The St. Louis-San Francisco, Missouri Pacific, Missouri-Kansas-Texas, and The Kansas City, Clinton, & Springfield. This bridge, now with its deck removed, once carried trains belonging to the MKT, as they made their way between Kansas City and St. Louis. The 'Katy' Railroad ended operations through Harrisonville in 1954, when the route between Bryson, MO and Paola, KS was abandoned. The track and bridge deck were salvaged. Today, only one rail line, the Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railway, serves the town, running on the rails of the old Missouri Pacific south from Pleasant Hill, MO.

Hope this Helps!

-Brian Daniel

Here is an old photograph, regional map, and street plan of the old town of Gray Summit, I've found no date, but I'll guess around 1900. The city map reveals a small spur track leaving the railroad east of the townsite, where limestone was quarried and shipped out by rail.

-Brian Daniel

I visited this bridge and walked out across it in the early spring of 2009. It's quite a bother to look down from such a height, as the bridge's deck is very narrow. Also of note is that the western abutment has eroded, and the track's rails hang suspended for a short distance between the end of the Bridge and the grade's elevated fill. The bridge is on the former Rock Island Railroad's 18th Subdivision and was at Mile Post 189.7, which may have also been the bridge's official number.