Engineers successfully test the functionality of a four-span truss bridge at Bellefontaine Bluffs over the Missouri River, according to a history published online by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. The railroad bridge is important because it linked St. Charles and St. Louis counties. This image shows a sign on the side of a railroad car for the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad – the same railroad for which the Bellefontaine Bluffs bridge had been built.

Photo credit: Jack Delano. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017849218/