Western Iowa (Large Resolution Warning)
- Thread starter 289v8
- Start date
MeowRailroad
CKRail
Thank you for explaining....
interesting postcard too!
Here's a modern look from Bing Bird's Eye view of the same area.
http://binged.it/1GE1xCh
You can tell where the trolley tracks once were if you look carefully, and can see the ROW to the state college which is still very prominent including the bridge abutments over the river.
John
interesting postcard too!
Here's a modern look from Bing Bird's Eye view of the same area.
http://binged.it/1GE1xCh
You can tell where the trolley tracks once were if you look carefully, and can see the ROW to the state college which is still very prominent including the bridge abutments over the river.
John
Okay... I got confused...
The CN&W branch that ran past Warrell Creek is gone as in not even a trace until you get to the end of South Grand Avenue where it becomes a rail trail out past the airport.
There's barely a trace of anything today except for some oddly curved streets which indicate that they followed the ROW in a few places where the wye was.
What's even more interesting is the pictures from the 1960s are quite similar to the decades before, and according to this topo map:
https://www.topoquest.com/map.php?l...d83&zoom=4&map=24k&coord=d&mode=zoomin&size=m
The tracks existed right up until at least the 1970s then everything was erased.
http://binged.it/1RpfDut
Thank you again for posting these...
It's sad how a transport network that was once so vital to an area can be completely erased from the earth as though it never existed.
John
The CN&W branch that ran past Warrell Creek is gone as in not even a trace until you get to the end of South Grand Avenue where it becomes a rail trail out past the airport.
There's barely a trace of anything today except for some oddly curved streets which indicate that they followed the ROW in a few places where the wye was.
What's even more interesting is the pictures from the 1960s are quite similar to the decades before, and according to this topo map:
https://www.topoquest.com/map.php?l...d83&zoom=4&map=24k&coord=d&mode=zoomin&size=m
The tracks existed right up until at least the 1970s then everything was erased.
http://binged.it/1RpfDut
Thank you again for posting these...
It's sad how a transport network that was once so vital to an area can be completely erased from the earth as though it never existed.
John
Well that makes sense then why there is no sign of the tracks anymore... The CNW picked up their toys and moved out! I saw this in another town out in, I think, western Kansas. The UPRR moved its mainline around the town and built a beautiful mainline to boot.
I did notice, after following the branch south, that they completely bypassed what looks like were once busy towns, but if the line had become nothing more than useful for hopper transfers, I can see why they took that opportunity for the $1 million in their pockets plus the scrap value.
John
I did notice, after following the branch south, that they completely bypassed what looks like were once busy towns, but if the line had become nothing more than useful for hopper transfers, I can see why they took that opportunity for the $1 million in their pockets plus the scrap value.
John