With the sun already partially below the horizon, an Iowa Interstate train with interchange from DM&E heads across the Government Bridge from Davenport, Iowa to Rock Island, Illinois. The double level (upper level for rails, lower level for pavement) Government Bridge was built in 1896. It is a descendant of the original bridge to cross the Mississippi River which was built in the early 1850's to connect the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad with the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad. It was located about 1,500 feet upstream of this bridge. After the original bridge was hit by a steamboat in 1856, the two railroad companies were sued by steamboat companies to have the bridge removed. The railroads hired a lawyer named Abraham Lincoln to defend the bridge. The case eventually ended up at the Supreme Court, and the railroads prevailed. Had they not, we might still be ferrying cars across the river today!
