The original bridge over the Des Moines River at this location 3 miles west of Boone was constructed by the Chicago and North Western from 1899-1901, and eventually was named the Kate Shelley Bridge for a local Iowa heroine. By the mid-1950s, the double track bridge was limited to one train at a time, and had a permanent slow order. Eventual owner Union Pacific constructed a new concrete and steel double track viaduct from 2006-2009 which can now handle two trains simultaneously at 70 mph. The old bridge still stands today just to the south, unused and a monument to a different era of bridge building.
