DM&E Cottonwood River Bridge

New Ulm, Minnesota

The first line was planned in the 1850's, when Minnesota was still a territory. In 1858, groundbreaking took place in Winona. The railroad had no official name, and was formed by the first and second governors of Minnesota. They had grading and bridges done from Winona to 50 miles west, but no further.

In 1861, after the financial crisis of 1859, the Winona, St Peter, Missouri River railroad company was awarded the property. They laid the track on the graded line, and continued building. The railroad reached Rochester in 1864, and Owatonna in 1866, until they were purchased by Chicago Northwestern in 1867. The CNW continued building west in 1871.

CNW reached Mankato, and build a little north, crossing the Minnesota River at St. Peter, staying north of the River until finally crossing back over at New Ulm. It then went to Tracy, and later Watertown, SD. It reached South Dakota in 1872.

The Chicago Northwestern opted for a new route between New Ulm and Mankato. They built it in 1899, using the old route as a backup. In 1971, the CNw abandoned the old route from New Ulm to Mankato, with the exception of a part from New Ulm to a small Rock Quarry.

By 1986, the CNW was looking to abandoned this route. A group of Senators stepped in and purchasded the line, and named the Dakota Minnesota Eastern.

DME grew quite a bit over the next few years. They ran into trouble with Rochester MN because they were running really long trains. The one bad part of the DM&E was their Minnesota Trackage was really bad.

Since then, the DME was been purchased by Canadian Pacific, but continues to operate as a subsidiary. Lots of rail replacement projects have come up too.
09/16/11

This bridge stands over the Cottonwood River. This bridge was a result of the 1899 relocation.

This bridge is likley the most photographed in Southern Minnesota. If it isn't, it is close. There are many good photos online of trains crossing this bridge.

One really stood out to me, it is a photo dated Octber, 30th 2008, DME's last independant day of operation, and the photo shows the sun setting.

This bridge is a quadrangular truss, a heavy built type of truss commonly used by the CNW between 1880 and 1930. If you look at the design you notice it does not have only triangles. It has triangles around the edges and quadralaterals in the middle. I know of several bridges like this. They are:

Redstone Bridge in New Ulm
Cottonwood River Bridge 2 in Lamberton
CNW Cottonwood River Bridge in Sanborn
And there are several in Eau Claire Wisconsin and elsewhere.

1913 isn't very old. The oldest Quadrangular Truss bridge I know is the Redstone Bridge, built 1880.

I went to this bridge 2 seperate times. The first was August 27th, where it was a very nice evening and I had just come from Mankato. There I photographed on the east side of the river.

The second was September 4th, on a morning where the clouds were just breaking up. I photographed the west side of the river.

There are a number of places to photograph this bridge.

The Sand Bar on the west side of the river.
The Sand Beach along the trestle
The overhang off of Shag Road.

The photo above is looking from a popular overhang.


The photos above and below are looking from the overhang






The photos above and below are looking at the bridge from the overhang.






The photo above is looking down the tracks towards the bridge from the Shag Road crossing. The photo below is loking west across the bridge.






The photos above are looking along the trestle.






The photo above is looking along the trestle. The photo below is looking at the 1st pier.






The photo above is looking under the bridge. The photo below is looking at pier #2






The photo above is looking at pier #1. The photo below is looking at pier #2






The photo above is looking at the 1st truss span. The photo below is looking at the 2nd truss span.






The photo above is looking at pier #2. The photo below is looking at pier #1






The photo above is looking at the trestle approach. The photo below is looking at the transition from the trestle to pier #1.






The photo above is looking at the trestle approach. The photo below is looking at the short bent on top of pier #1.






The photo above is looking at the trestle. The photo below is looking at some limestone on pier #1.






The photos above and below are looking at the trestle.






The photos above and below are looking at the trestle.






The photos above and below are looking at the trestle.






The photo above is looking at the east abutment. The photo below is looking along the bridge.





The photos above and below are looking west across the bridge, as the sun sets on August 27th 2011.




The photos below are fromn 9/4/11 when the sun was coming out, and I came down here to finish what I started.




The photo above is looking east across the bridge. The photo below is looking at the east abutment.






The photo above is looking under the bridge. The photo below is looking at the 1st truss span.






The photo above is looking at pier #2. The photo below is looking at the joint between spans 1 and 2.






The photos above and below are looking at span #2.






The photos above and below are looking at the trestle approach.

The photo above is looking at pier #2. The photo below is looking at pier #1.

The photos above and below are looking at span #2

The photos above and below are looking at Span #2

The photos above and below are looking at span #1

The photo above is looking at span #2. The photo below is looking at span #1.

The photo above is looking at the west abutment. The photo below is looking at span #1.

The photos above and below are looking along the bridge.

The photo above is looking at pier #2. The photo below is looking under the bridge.

The photo above is looking at the west abutment, which is cement. The photo below is looking at one of the biggest bridge shoes I have ever seen.

The photo above is looking at one of the interior girders. The photo below is looking at an angle plate.

The photos above and below are looking down the tracks towards the bridge.

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