Iowa's Last Narrow-Gauge Railroad
Iowa's Last Narrow-Gauge Railroad

Author: John Tigges

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 9780738541181

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When talk began circulating in 1848 about the importance of railroads, the people of Cascade grew anxious. Without direct access to navigable rivers other than the Mississippi over 36 miles away, their community could very well fade from existence. They needed a railroad as soon as possible. The idea raced forward, with the backing of the Chicago, Clinton, Dubuque and Minnesota Railroad Company, or "the River Road," which ran along the western bank of the Mississippi River and passed through Bellevue. Their hopes and dreams became reality in a three-foot-gauge line 31 years later, in 1879. In 1880, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway purchased the River Road, which included the narrow-gauge branch line to Cascade. Overjoyed at having a larger entity involved, anticipation for the widening of the rails to standard gauge grew quickly. This book relates the story from the beginning to its abandonment in 1936. Today Bellevue and Cascade survive as thriving small towns and are economically healthy. Despite the fact that 70 years have passed since the last spike was pulled, many people know of and recall Iowa's last narrow-gauge railroad.

Remembering Southeast Iowa's Peavine
Remembering Southeast Iowa's Peavine

Author: Michael Richard Johns

Publisher:

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13:

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A local history necessarily tells a story. This is the story of a rail line that was built across four counties in southeastern iowa; a rail line that had an affectionate attachment with the communities and farm population it served. The rail line lasted 110 years, and was fondly referred to as "the Peavine" in local terminology; presumably because of the winding route taken across the landscape of southeastern Iowa. The railroad started out as a narrow gauge (36 inch wide track) mine line route, was then converted to standard gauge (56.5 inches) after a bankruptcy, extended westward with an eye toward serving as a main line route to the Sante Fe Railway. The line fell once again into bankruptcy, and was acquired by the Burlington, serving out the remaining 80 years of its operations as a branch or "feeder" line. The history of the "Peavine" includes a story of the communities and people it served. It also tells the story of external forces that spelled doom for the rail line-decisions made elsewhere in corporate board rooms, public policy that subsidized competitors at the expense of the railroad, and of transportation deregulations -- its causes and effects.

Iowa Railroads
Iowa Railroads

Author: H. Roger Grant

Publisher: University of Iowa Press

Published: 2000-05-01

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 1609380134

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What began as a study of the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway stretched into more than a dozen contributions on Hawkeye state railroad topics. By 1969 Donovan had examined Iowa's “Little Three”: Chicago Great Western, Illinois Central, and Minneapolis & St. Paul as well as the state's “Big Four”: Chicago & North Western; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific; and Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific. In addition to these seven core carriers, Donovan covered the state's less prominent railroads: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; Great Northern; and Union Pacific and Wabash. Moreover, he contributed an issue on Iowa's principal interurbans, most of which survived into the 1950s as electric-powered freight-only short lines. In uniting Donovan's articles into a single volume, Iowa Railroads provides the most complete history of Iowa's rail heritage.

Steel Trails of Hawkeyeland
Steel Trails of Hawkeyeland

Author: Don L. Hofsommer

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 9780253345158

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"Steel Trails of Hawkeyeland offers a comprehensive examination of railroads in Iowa from the introduction of the iron horse to the present. It is more than a study of a single, albeit significant American state. Hofsommer superbly relates local events to the national picture. His is a 'one-of-a-kind' volume." —H. Roger Grant, author of Follow the Flag: A History of the Wabash Railroad Company In the time of jet airplanes and interstate highways, the Internet and e-commerce, it is difficult to comprehend and appreciate the impact that railroads had on Iowa's landscape—in terms not just of transportation service and economic development, but of political, social, and cultural linkage as well. Railroads helped to define the character of America, and that certainly was the case in Iowa. Pioneer lines penetrated the interior from established Mississippi River communities during the state's early railroad era, and later opened up huge tracts for agricultural opportunity as well as urban development. A wide-ranging survey of Iowa's railroad experience, Steel Trails of Hawkeyeland offers a snapshot of a fascinating and critically important element in the state's history, and emphasizes the tight symbiotic relationship between Iowa and its railways. Packed with more than 250 photographs, this is a thorough and engaging book.