Iowa Northern Railway Co history

Washington State RailroadsJul 11, 22 04:19 PMWashington railroads' earliest history began with the Cascade Portage Railway of 1851.

Although there were several very small railroads operating in and around Iowa’ river towns, the first railroad to cross the Mississippi River was the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad in 1856.

In 1867 the Chicago, Iowa and Nebraska Railroad, which later became the Chicago and North Western Railway Co. was the first railroad to build tracks across Iowa.

Iowa’s rail system has experienced extensive change and restructuring since 1975 as a result of railroad bankruptcies and rail line abandonments.

In March, 1980 its assets were liquidated and the property sold to interested parties (the company's corporate name has since been revived by Terry Redeker, a short line based in Mississippi).

Considering the railroad's state in 1981 it was very impressive to witness just how far things had came since that time.

Officially, the Iowa Northern Railway was created in 1984 when the property was purchased for $5.4 million.

Then, it was sold in 1994 to Iron Road Railways.

The Chicago and North Western Railway Co. merged with the Union Pacific Railroad Co. in April 1995.

During the mid/latter 2000's the railroad enjoyed bountiful traffic from the ethanol fuel boom thanks to its location within the heart of America's agricultural region.

Sabin slowly and steadily expanded traffic to the point whereby in 2006 the railroad was hauling more than 40,000 carloads a year and today that number continues to rise.