TRACK MAINTENANCE
MAINTAINING
LASER FOCUS
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ne of the saddest stories from 20th century railroading was the total collapse of the Rock Island Railroad. For various reasons, the railroad collapsed in the late 1970s, and liquidation occurred in 1980. Afterward, much of the dilapidated track and ties lay dormant for years. As most readers know, short lines 12 Railway Track & Structures // November 2020
sprouted around the country using track available due to bankruptcy of struggling roads or Class 1 abandonment of branch lines, made possible by the Staggers Act, which provided massive economic deregulation to the industry. Among the successful short lines that began doing business in the 1980s and is still doing so today is the Iowa Northern
Railway Company (IANR). Founded in 1984, the railroad, operating only in Iowa, runs diagonally through the state northwest to southeast from Manly to Cedar Rapids. It has a branch line from Waterloo to Oelwein and another from Forest City to Belmond. After 10 years of operation, the road handled 15,000 cars annually, and the average track speed was less than 10 mph. rtands.com
Photo Credit: Iowa Northern
Iowa Northern units handling an ethanol train.