The Minneapolis & St Louis Railway

The Minneapolis & St Louis Railway was founded in 1870 to connect the Minneapolis area with points south, although it would never connect to St. Louis. Minneapolis was home to the largest flour milling operations in the country at that time. Nonetheless, it grew to serve four states; South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.

Image: Minneapolis & St. Louis 244. Jeff Terry

During the 1880's, it ran into receivership and became under the control of the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. This would pair it with another CRI&P subsidiary, namely the Iowa Central Railroad.

In 1917, the railroad was nationalized for the war effort of World War I, coming under the control of the United States Railroad Administration. This proved disastrous, as the railroad could not modernize post control, and was left to larger railroads to decide its fate.

In 1960, this dilemma was solved when the railroad was purchased by the Chicago & Northwestern Railway.

As the railroad grew, it crossed the Mississippi River at Keithsburg, IL, en route to Peoria, IL, and this line became one of the few Mississippi River crossings that would eventually be abandoned.

Keithsburg Rail Bridge. Image contributed by John Marvig via BridgeHunter. This bridge closed in 1971

Like many railroads post-1960, it would not have been profitable as a standalone company, and merged with other railroads to create a larger transportation network. This practice continued, and continues, early into the 2000's. In 1925, there were 174 Class I railroads in the United States, many of which much smaller than the Class I's of today, while eight remain today, only seven of which provide freight service.

Map of lines associated with the M&StL. (Wikipedia Commons)


Minneapolis & St. Louis 232. Unknown photographer. FRRandP Photo Collection.

Further Reading: The Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway: A Photographic History by Don L Hofsommer (Amazon Link)


Thanks as always for reading!

Location: Keithsburg, IL 61442, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Underwater Water Slide: Fly Over at Durinrell TikiBad

Image
Have you ever wished to experience being transferred from one pool of liquid to another via a pipe? Had you visited the Dutch water park known as Durinrell , also known as Tikibad before 2010, you would have had the chance. Half water slide, half war crime, this was a unique water slide that was filled to the brim with water, leaving riders completely submerged throughout the journey. Image:  XtremeRidesNL Known as the Fly Over was an underwater water slide, which is exactly how it sounds, and transported riders from one pool to another using the water as propulsion. Built in 1994, riders dove underwater to access the slide, using gravity to transport them upwards via the Communicating Vessels Principle . Riders would be completely underwater for about 15-20 seconds. This is how I imagine those 15-20 seconds felt like while riding the slide. The slide was built to drain water in five seconds or less in case a rider got stuck in the slide or had a medical emergency, but the threat tha
Read more

Railroad Vocabulary: A List of Words and Phrases Used in the Industry - Updated February 2024

Image
As somebody who enjoyed watching trains, but was not an employee of the railroad industry ( at least growing up ), when I would interact with railfans and historians, there was often a lot of technical jargon that applied only to the railroad industry thrown back and forth that made it difficult for a newcomer to understand what they were talking about. For example, what is a dinky? It's actually a passenger train. This non-inclusive language seems to keep the loop closed to members of the community, and to uncouple (no pun intended) that technical jargon and help make it easier for people to communicate with people in the industry, I am creating a list of railroad vocabulary that I'm hoping will make the industry more transparent.  BNSF 2361 . Image: Matt Flores While I ultimately believe that such technical jargon has no place outside of perhaps technical communications between employees, I know quite well that I alone am not going to stop people from communicating in a non-i
Read more

The Abandoned Route 66 in McCook, IL

Image
Route 66, the iconic "Main Street of America," weaves through the heart of the United States, connecting communities and embodying the spirit of adventure. However, not all sections of this historic highway have stood the test of time. While much of the former US 66 is drivable in one way or another, especially in Illinois, there are some parts are not.  One of the first such roadblocks for would-be travelers heading from Chicago to Los Angeles via the Mother Road, now known as Joliet Road, comes just outside of Chicago in McCook, IL, where the former highway is closed between 55th St and East Ave, and has been for over two decades. (Link to the location on our Ghost Towns Map ) Image: Google Maps at 55th and Joliet Rd in McCook, IL The land that the quarry would eventually take over was part of Stinson Airport in the early days of Route 66, dating back to before 1930. ( Abandoned Airports map ). 1938 USGS Aerial Imagery The quarrying on the south side of the road would
Read more