The Rock Island bridge across the Cimarron River in Seward County, Kansas is said to be the largest bridge of its kind. It is 1200 feet long and 100 feet above the riverbed. Support pylons are driven to a depth of 165 feet to resist the shifting quicksand of the river.
The July 9, 1939 issue of the Southwest Daily Times carried the headline, "First Train Comes Over New Rock Island Bridge and Fill Saturday Afternoon," and a sub-head, "Fireman Powell Gets his Revenge."
The story in part states: The Rock Island railroad stuck out its tongue at the snaky, treacherous, drowsy little Cimarron River yesterday. It was a tongue of steel and millions of cubic yards of sand and concrete, and it cost the railroad one and a half million dollars. But the Cimarron River, a slow, split-tongued, sandy reptile that can coil in a flash and strike with deadly fury, is conquered once and for all.
Rock Island Train No 13, west-bound, put an end to the jinx that the river has been to the line for years, culminating in the crash of a freight engine and 30 cars through the old wooden bridge and into the flooded river's water last August. Two transients lost their lives in that crash. The line determined immediately that it would never be repeated.
In the cab of the big engine rode the man that probably received the biggest thrill from being on the first train to pass on the new bridge, high above the sleepy Cimarron. He was C M Powell, the fireman, who through pure coincidence, happened to be firing the first train to cross the new bridge on regular schedule. Powell was the fireman on the freight engine that plunged through the old bridge across the Cimarron last August, and into the flood-swollen river below. Powell was injured in the crash, but not seriously, and in a short time was back on his regular run.
"I sure wanted to fire this engine through today," Powell said, checking the numerous gauges and knobs in the cab of the big, hissing engine. "I sorta feel like pulling the first train across this bridge will give me my revenge of the old river for what she did to us a year ago."
For additional photos and a map with location please visit Kansas Travel.