The steel swing span railway bridge linked north Eburne with Richmond, and the then important community, port and canneries at Steveston.

Created primarily to serve the canneries, the line was not the anticipated commercial success, because the companies preferred shipping directly by sea.

Using steam locomotives, the twice daily Vancouver–Steveston mixed trains began that year,[2] but the CP enthusiasm for electrification indicated a desire to off-load the service.

[9] By the end of passenger service in 1958, freight comprised boxcar loads, such as fish oil, often hauled by electric locomotives, soon to become an all-diesel fleet on the removal of the overhead power wire.

At the southern bridge approach, the freight track now paralleled the Fraser westward, at a distance of up to 230 metres (755 ft) from the shoreline, before continuing south to join at the Granville/Railway junction.

[11] In 1967, when a barge carrying wood chips struck a steel support, the 32.3-metre (106 ft) swing span collapsed into the river.

2 Rd–Steveston sections already sold, such as the Lynas Lane city works yard, the remaining track was largely overgrown with dense bramble and 6-metre (20 ft) high birch.

That year, a hot and fast fire, possibly started by vandals, destroyed a 100-metre (330 ft) section of the creosote-treated wooden trestle approach on the Marpole side.

The thick smoke temporarily closed the Oak Street Bridge, and impacted Vancouver International Airport flights.

[20] In failing to repair the structure, CP violated its obligations of providing a weekly service to Univar, one of the country’s biggest chemical distributors, isolated by the incident.