An eastbound UP stack train crosses the old Chicago and NorthWestern Mississippi River Bridge, passing from Iowa to Illinois. This swing bridge was built in 1909 and still sees very heavy use. Although it is double tracked, only one train can cross it at a time. The Union Pacific has plans to replace this old bridge within a few years with a new span that will be high enough that barge traffic will be able to pass underneath it, much like the U.S. Hwy. 30 Bridge here, thereby eliminating a major bottleneck on the extremely busy ex C&NW Mainline. I'll bet the new structure won't have as much character though, and I'll miss watching trains cross the Mississippi on this old stalwart.
