I can tell you EXACTLY why the Rock River bridge is "oddly braced." Back in 1985 (I believe it was), when the C&NW ran their first stack train, THE very first train through the bridge took out all of the interior angled bracing because no one had bothered to check the height clearance at the top of the bridge. The train crew certainly wouldn't have thought twice about it. They were given the train and told to go, so they went! Someone at C&NW HQ in Chicago dropped the ball. The high-speed collision with the interior bracing nearly took the entire bridge down. It (the collision) demolished the top level containers at the head end of the train; I don't remember how many containers were destroyed, but there were ripped up shreds of aluminum all over the place. The C&NW had to come up with an economical way (what else?) to reinforce the bridge after that near disaster, so the I-beams welded on the roof of the bridge with welded angled supports outside of the bridge structure (allowing for higher clearance inside) was their answer.
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