The old railroad bridge was built about 1879 by Leighton Bridge and Iron Works of Rochester, New York, as part of the Chicago and North Western Transportation Co.’s rail line, according to HistoricBridges.org. It’s an example of a lattice truss bridge, according to the group, which listed it as a 9 on its historical rating scale.

Members did a site visit in 2021 and found the truss portion of the bridge “remains in good condition and, if removed prior to collapse, could be reused and preserved for pedestrian use with minimal repairs,” according to the site.

The cost of preserving the truss would have been expensive, O’Sullivan said. The village offered it to anyone who wanted to preserve it but found no takers, he said.

Otto Engineering owns the park located on both sides of the bridge, but ownership of the bridge has never been established, O’Sullivan said.

"No thanks" was the response from an IRM official. Although there is a 200 foot gap in the roadbed at the Kishwaukee River (a large creek at this point), crossing it, or using this bridge to cross it, appears to not be a priority. The location is less than 11 miles from the Carpentersville bridge.

"No thanks" was the response from an IRM official. Although there is a 200 foot gap in the roadbed at the Kishwaukee River (a large creek at this point), crossing it, or using this bridge to cross it, appears to not be a priority. The location is less than 11 miles from the Carpentersville bridge.

if removed prior to collapse, could be reused and preserved for pedestrian use with minimal repairs

I suspect this description has a lot to do with it.



Pedestrian use with minimal repairs does not bode well for service as a railroad structure.

That all said what is even going on at IRM? I noticed the blog hasn't been updated in over a year. They spent all that money in what 2016/17 to buy and ship a turntable to the museum, and announced planning for a future roundhouse; but I don't recall hearing anything anything about those since. Not even a fundraising request via email in the years since. Have they given up on those expansion dreams like the PA RR Museum Strausburg?