Trail/Milwaukee Road Viaduct over Kelley Creek near Adair, ID

(Bridge Hunter, Satellite)

I'm so glad the bridges and tunnels have been preserved as a trail.

Jon Severson posted two photos with the comment:

When the Milwaukee Road crossed the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Mountains between Montana and Idaho on their march towards the Pacific Northwest, they spanned numerous small chasms with large steel viaducts. "The Adair Loop" was the name bestowed upon this box canyon in the Idaho panhandle and Milwaukee Road trains climbed (eastward) or descended (westward) the loop to cross the rugged wilderness. In September 1970 Keith Ardinger walked into the Idaho back country to photograph trains struggling eastward up the climb or, like in the photo, a westbound, led by a Little Joe electric, slowly drifting downgrade on the eastern/upper side of the loop over Kelley Creek. Ten years in the future the sound of trains in the Loop will only be a memory. In March 1980 the Milwaukee Road would cease operations on their Lines West and bring to an end over seventy years of service to Montana, Idaho and Washington. Today the great bridges of the Milwaukee Road through the Bitterroot/Loop area remain standing among the forests. Ancient steel giants slumbering in the mountain shadows, awaiting the trains that will never be carried across their backs again.

Jon Severson Karl, it use to b quite a bit of work, but now that the old Milwaukee grade is a bike trail in this part of Montana & Idaho it is pretty easy to get to! Great ride & fantastic views all along here! Highly recommended.
Harley Kuehl I would highly advise driving to Wallace Idaho and take Moon Pass over and down to the river junction of Loop Creek into North Fork St Joe River; bang a left and follow Loop Creek upstream up to the railroad tracks...I think you may have to hike up from there...maybe a mile hike from the loop!
Ed Casper http://www.ridethehiawatha.com/the-trail
Karl Baumann This was the highest and longest trestle on the Rocky Mountain Division, this was one of nine trestles on the west side of StPaul Pass
Karl Baumann Jon keeps my interest up😬, Ha Ha, another tidbit, they had to add 41 extra tons to the Little Joes to gain the traction they needed to pull the trains over the Rocky Mountain Division
Chris Jones It's part of the Route of the Hiawatha and Olympian Rail Trails. There are plans to extend the trail to St. Regis. It only officially goes as far west as Pearson but hopefully it'll be officially extended down Moon Pass Rd to Avery as well.

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Chris Jones commented on the above posting
A "what could have been"...