Des Moines North-Western Railroad 1878-1891 (1980)
| April 29, 2021 06:18PM |
Once Iowa's largest 3' Gauge, ran from (eventully) Des Moines to Fonda (on IC main to Sioux City). Originally Des Moines, Adel & Western, ran about 30 miles West from Waukee to Panora.
Reorganized as Des Moines North-Western (1880) came under Wabash (Jay Gould system) 1881. Extended to Fonda by '82. Gained access to Des Moines over a branch of the St Louis, Des Moines & Northern in '81. StL,DM&NW ran eventually from Des Moines to Clive, then North through Madrid to Boone with the aforementioned branch from Clive to Waukee.
Line was intended to go to the Spirt Lake resort area (Iowa Great Lakes) where the Rock Island & the St Paul railroads (via subsidiarys) did war upon each other in the 1880's. Much grading done, line not completed.
Wabash lost control in mid to late 1880's, by 1887 at the latest, depending on how you read it all. That's when (Ocotber 1887) it was reorganized as Des Moines & North Western Railway. Merged with Des Moines & Northern RR (successor to StL,DM&NW) in 1891, later that year the system was converted to std.
Total miliage at time of conversion about 149 miles.
Later history: Purchased by the St Paul Line (later[post 1925 or so] known as the Milwaukee Road) in 1899 and extended to from Fonda to Spencer on the their line across Northern Iowa (later route of the Souix overnight train to Rapid City, SD). Spencer was where the Spirit Lake branch met the main from the North so that finally finished the line. Note that C,M& StP was probably looking for access to Des Moines more than anything else with this purchase.
Des Moines-Madrid-Boone line: abandoned 5 mile section South of Madrid (on Omaha main) in 1943 and replaced by a line up the West side of the river, Granger-Woodward Jct. to avoid an impressive High Bridge over the Des Moines River. Line North of Madrid abd in two sections, North of Luther in 1965, rest in 1976.
Balance of DM&NW used until MILW abandoned it in 1980.
When I was in High School (1977-80), I traced as much of it as I could afford the gas for. Sorry no pictures, Gas or film was the choice to be made. There are some pictures that I have seen of the StL,DM&NW bridge over the river when it was new. Impressive. Copy I've got (in May,1964 issue of The Palimpset) is credited to "E.H. Myers Collection". One picture for these two lines, 7 for B&C, there ain't no justice! No pictures in Hilton's tome either.
Hank
PS How's that for thread drift?
800 miles or so!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2021 06:24PM by hank.
Reorganized as Des Moines North-Western (1880) came under Wabash (Jay Gould system) 1881. Extended to Fonda by '82. Gained access to Des Moines over a branch of the St Louis, Des Moines & Northern in '81. StL,DM&NW ran eventually from Des Moines to Clive, then North through Madrid to Boone with the aforementioned branch from Clive to Waukee.
Line was intended to go to the Spirt Lake resort area (Iowa Great Lakes) where the Rock Island & the St Paul railroads (via subsidiarys) did war upon each other in the 1880's. Much grading done, line not completed.
Wabash lost control in mid to late 1880's, by 1887 at the latest, depending on how you read it all. That's when (Ocotber 1887) it was reorganized as Des Moines & North Western Railway. Merged with Des Moines & Northern RR (successor to StL,DM&NW) in 1891, later that year the system was converted to std.
Total miliage at time of conversion about 149 miles.
Later history: Purchased by the St Paul Line (later[post 1925 or so] known as the Milwaukee Road) in 1899 and extended to from Fonda to Spencer on the their line across Northern Iowa (later route of the Souix overnight train to Rapid City, SD). Spencer was where the Spirit Lake branch met the main from the North so that finally finished the line. Note that C,M& StP was probably looking for access to Des Moines more than anything else with this purchase.
Des Moines-Madrid-Boone line: abandoned 5 mile section South of Madrid (on Omaha main) in 1943 and replaced by a line up the West side of the river, Granger-Woodward Jct. to avoid an impressive High Bridge over the Des Moines River. Line North of Madrid abd in two sections, North of Luther in 1965, rest in 1976.
Balance of DM&NW used until MILW abandoned it in 1980.
When I was in High School (1977-80), I traced as much of it as I could afford the gas for. Sorry no pictures, Gas or film was the choice to be made. There are some pictures that I have seen of the StL,DM&NW bridge over the river when it was new. Impressive. Copy I've got (in May,1964 issue of The Palimpset) is credited to "E.H. Myers Collection". One picture for these two lines, 7 for B&C, there ain't no justice! No pictures in Hilton's tome either.
Hank
PS How's that for thread drift?
800 miles or so!Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2021 06:24PM by hank.
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488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
The NGDF was started by Don Richter and is currently operated in his memory by Nathan Holmes and others. Others who have contributed to the upkeep of this board are (in no particular order): Charles McCandless, Everett Lueck, Ted Wilton, Cole Adams, James Bane, John Moellmer, Jon Bentz, Linn Moedinger, lloyd lehrer, Rod Jensen, John Craft, Steven Forney, Herb Kelsey, Bill Ramaley, Russ Sperry (El Russo Loco), Josh McNeal, John West, Jim Armstrong, Bob Bergstrom, Greg Scholl, Blake Forbes Doug van Veelen and Mark Fuller.