Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD: Difference between revisions
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In 1883 the Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska Railroad (WI & N) planned to operate a rail line from the [[MISSISSIPPI RIVER]] at McGregor diagonally across Iowa to the Missouri River across from Nebraska City, Nebraska. The goal of the road was to cross the coal fields of Iowa and provide them with a commercial outlet as well as provide a direct link to the lumber region of Wisconsin. (3) The roadbed was completed from Waterloo to Marshalltown by this time and grading had reached Des Moines. Problems entering Waterloo resulted in plans being changed to use Cedar Falls. By January 22, 1884, regular service was in place between Des Moines to Cedar Falls. | In 1883 the Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska Railroad (WI & N) planned to operate a rail line from the [[MISSISSIPPI RIVER]] at McGregor diagonally across Iowa to the Missouri River across from Nebraska City, Nebraska. The goal of the road was to cross the coal fields of Iowa and provide them with a commercial outlet as well as provide a direct link to the lumber region of Wisconsin. (3) The roadbed was completed from Waterloo to Marshalltown by this time and grading had reached Des Moines. Problems entering Waterloo resulted in plans being changed to use Cedar Falls. By January 22, 1884, regular service was in place between Des Moines to Cedar Falls. | ||
By 1888 the WI & N and the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroads were purchased by the Chicago, St. Paul and Kansas City Railroad Company (CStP&KC). This line was interested in constructing a railroad between Dubuque and Kansas City, Missouri. After the mergers, the CStP&KC built an extension to Dubuque and another westward to Kansas City | By 1888 the WI & N and the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroads were purchased by the Chicago, St. Paul and Kansas City Railroad Company (CStP&KC). This line was interested in constructing a railroad between Dubuque and Kansas City, Missouri. After the mergers, the CStP&KC built an extension to Dubuque and another westward to Kansas City. | ||
Ultimately covering an estimated 1,500 miles in the Midwest, the railroad was called the "Corn Belt Route." It led from Dubuque past Sageville and into Durango, Graf, Twin Springs, Epworth, Farley, and Dyersville through some of the wildest and most scenic regions in the county. Faced in 1885 with a route for the Dubuque and North Western five miles north of their city, residents of Dyersville sent representative businessmen to Dubuque to negotiate with railroad management. As a result of the meeting, the railroad was granted free right-of-way through the Dyersville corporate limits. Three blocks of residential area were given for railroad use and the homes were moved from the land by the city. | Ultimately covering an estimated 1,500 miles in the Midwest, the railroad was called the "Corn Belt Route." It led from Dubuque past Sageville and into Durango, Graf, Twin Springs, Epworth, Farley, and Dyersville through some of the wildest and most scenic regions in the county. Faced in 1885 with a route for the Dubuque and North Western five miles north of their city, residents of Dyersville sent representative businessmen to Dubuque to negotiate with railroad management. As a result of the meeting, the railroad was granted free right-of-way through the Dyersville corporate limits. Three blocks of residential area were given for railroad use and the homes were moved from the land by the city. | ||
Revision as of 02:42, 21 October 2014
This entry is being edited.
CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD. In early 1882 and survey was made for a rail line across Iowa from Dubuque southwest of Nebraska City, Nebraska. (1) Construction was begun later than year on the section between Des Moines and Marshalltown. Extensions of the line were proposed eastward across Wisconsin to Lake Michigan and from Nebraska City southwest. (2)
In 1883 the Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska Railroad (WI & N) planned to operate a rail line from the MISSISSIPPI RIVER at McGregor diagonally across Iowa to the Missouri River across from Nebraska City, Nebraska. The goal of the road was to cross the coal fields of Iowa and provide them with a commercial outlet as well as provide a direct link to the lumber region of Wisconsin. (3) The roadbed was completed from Waterloo to Marshalltown by this time and grading had reached Des Moines. Problems entering Waterloo resulted in plans being changed to use Cedar Falls. By January 22, 1884, regular service was in place between Des Moines to Cedar Falls.
By 1888 the WI & N and the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroads were purchased by the Chicago, St. Paul and Kansas City Railroad Company (CStP&KC). This line was interested in constructing a railroad between Dubuque and Kansas City, Missouri. After the mergers, the CStP&KC built an extension to Dubuque and another westward to Kansas City.
Ultimately covering an estimated 1,500 miles in the Midwest, the railroad was called the "Corn Belt Route." It led from Dubuque past Sageville and into Durango, Graf, Twin Springs, Epworth, Farley, and Dyersville through some of the wildest and most scenic regions in the county. Faced in 1885 with a route for the Dubuque and North Western five miles north of their city, residents of Dyersville sent representative businessmen to Dubuque to negotiate with railroad management. As a result of the meeting, the railroad was granted free right-of-way through the Dyersville corporate limits. Three blocks of residential area were given for railroad use and the homes were moved from the land by the city.
The first train moving westward rolled through Dyersville in 1886. The immediate effect of the railroad included rising land values and business prosperity. The Chicago Northwestern Railroad, an east-west system, was known as the "Maple Leaf Route," because at Oelwein the stem of the route from Chicago branched into lines aimed toward Omaha, Kansas City and St. Paul.
In 1968 the railroad was merged with the Chicago and Northwestern. The railroad stopped service to Dyersville in 1956 and the depot was demolished in 1972. In the 1980s the decision was made by the railroad's parent corporation to abandon the line. A scramble started among conservation people, adjoining landowners and bicyclists who sought to create a bike path on the former right-of-way. Eventually the bicyclists won and HERITAGE TRAIL was created.
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Source:
1. Finch, Charles W. Our American Railroads; The Way It Was, East Dubuque, IL, Register Printing Company, 1988, p. 118
2. Ibid.