The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul and Railroad decided to expand from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest in the early 1900s. The Pacific Northwest line was completed about 1913. The bridge at Beverly was a key link in that line. After the expansion was completed, the railroad's name was changed to the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. The popular name is Milwaukee Road.
In hindsight, the railroad's decision to expand to the Pacific Northwest was unwise. The line was the last transcontinental route to the Pacific Northwest. It did not receive federal land grants as had the Northern and Union Pacifics. It was not as well managed as the Great Northern. The Milwaukee road did not pass through the major cities and towns served by the Great Northern and Northern Pacific. The Panama Canal opened shortly after the completion of the Milwaukee Road's Pacific Northwest line, cutting into the bulk shipment business formerly handled exclusively by railroad.
The Milwaukee Road ran into financial difficulties in the 1930s. Business picked up in the 40s. In the 1960s there was talk of merging the Milwaukee Road with the Union Pacific but the merger never took place. The UP also tried to merge with the Rock Island. In 1979, the Milwaukee Road declared bankrupcy and went out of business. The Burlington Northern bought the Snoqualmie Pass section but sold it after a few years. Most of the Milwaukee Road mainline across the state was abandoned. The state government now owns most of the right-of-way. Much of the former railroad route has been converted into Iron Horse State Park and the John Wayne Trail. The bridge at Beverly is closed to all traffic at this time, however.The John Wayne Trail was renamed the Palouse to Cascades Trail in 2018. The linear state park was renamed the Palouse to Cascades Trail State Park. After several years of sitting abandoned, the state legislature appropriated money in the 2019-2021 biennial budget to rebuild the deck of the Beverly Bridge. The wood railroad ties, many of them damaged by fire, have been removed. A new concrete deck consisting of prefabricated panels is nearing completion. The reopening scheduled for September 2021 has been delayed due to smoke from forest and range fires, COVID-19 and the Delta variant, and the death of a construction worker who fell from the bridge. A Milwaukee Road trestle that crosses over I-90 about 10 miles east of Ellensburg was reopened as part of the Palouse to Cascades Trail in April 2021. That trail also has a concrete deck similar to the one that is being installed on the Beverly Bridge.
The photo was taken from a point in Beverly SE of the bridge in May 2003.
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