Kate Shelley Bridge – rural Boone, IA - Railroad Bridges on Waymarking.com

The Kate Shelley High Bridge is the highest double-track railroad bridge in the United States. Built in 1901 it measures 2,685 feet long and is 185 feet tall. The Union Pacific railroad used it to cross the Des Moines River until the new concrete bridge was built next to it in the summer of 2009.

The old bridge holds a well-known history of Kate Shelley and her heroism when on a dark night in 1881 her quick thinking helped save a passenger train from sure disaster. When a heavy rain flooded the nearby Honey Creek, it washed out some of the trestle timbers on the creek bridge putting in jeopardy the lives of some of the engine crew who was out checking the condition of the track. After hearing the crash Kate ran in total darkness to the Moingona depot a half mile away to sound the alarm for the next passenger train and then called for a rescue team to help the engine crew.

The bridge was named in Kate Shelley’s honor in 1912. It can be found three miles west of Boone. A waymarker will most likely be able to view a train crossing the new bridge as it is a busy rail line.

Note: The new bridge that has active train traffic is on the camera side of the old bridge in these photos. The coords take the waymarker to the best possible place for viewing.

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Bridge Type: Truss Bridge Usage: Abandoned/Not Active Moving Bridge: This bridge is static (has no moving pieces)

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