The Covered Milwaukee Railroad Trestle
Monroe Historical Society photo #686

This covered railroad bridge across the Skykomish River just east of Monroe at Buck Island was the longest covered railroad bridge in the world and the longest covered bridge in the west. It was completed in 1939 and was 450 feet in length. It replaced and earlier covered bridge built in 1911 about 200 feet upstream from this location. That bridge consisted of five covered Howe Trusses and was 750 feet in length. The bridge was relocated when the Milwaukee Road abandoned their tracks between Monroe and Everett because of the high cost of maintenance and decided to use the Great Northern tracks instead. As a result their tracks had to be relocated for the merge with the Great Northern mainline. The covered bridge was replaced in 1969 by four steel spans, which still exist although the track is no longer in use.