Yeah - just like I said - NORTHWEST of Czech Village. Yeah. [D)]
Indeed, C.R. was a happenin’ place, and the photos in this thread show that there’s still plenty to be seen. I caught the railroad bug looking out the window at Arthur Elementary School, watching the MILW go by. When I could bike around, I’d go to the A Avenue overpass by Quaker Oats, to watch things. I even biked to Marion one Saturday morning in 1971 to watch one of the last Cities come through. That thing was so long it would have to be spotted twice to load and unload passengers.
I wasn’t even born when Union Station was taken down. My father told me that a favorite summer evening activity would be to walk to Greene Square across from the station and watch a succession of Cities trains come through; they must have run in more than once section at that time. My mother recalled going to Beverly to catch train to Marshalltown. That would have been during that short time between the demise of Union Station and the MILW taking over the Cities.
The infrastructure that grew up around the railroads in Cedar Rapids was also fascinating to this kid. Several hotels lined the 4th street tracks; a couple of them were still operating around the end of the 1970’s. Hotel Taft on 2nd Ave., Hotel Magnus, kitty-corner to it, Allison Hotel on 1st Ave., with Bishop’s Cafeteria on the first floor. Across from the Allison on 1st Ave, where the convention center now stands, were the C&NW freight house, Hotel Pullman and Hotel Nora. The merchants along “4th St” tended to cater to travelling men and railroad crews–beaneries, barber shopes, a news stand. All of that is gone. One thing left is an office building on 1st Ave., east of the tracks. When I was a kid, it had received a 1960’s-era “refreshening,” but a later remodeling exposed the original brick exterior and the initials of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern.
In the late '40’s my mother roomed at the Allison for a summer while doing an inter
No pictures of mushrooms.
Did you find any morels in the timber?
[(-D]
Sorry, I’m not a fan of mushrooms, except on my supreme pizza.
You guys are making me wish I’d been around this area longer. I moved down here from Prior Lake, MN back in April of '74. I managed to catch the last few years of MILW freight action, but no passenger experiences to share. My wife, who was born and raised here, did get to ride the Cities out of Marion a couple of times during her teen years- she got to use it to visit relatives over in Sabula and the Rockford area.
Just don’t get your pizza from Zoey’s over by the Marion depot (tastes alright fresh but if you keep leftovers the cheese turns to rubber).
Cedar Rapids is a “cornucopia” of Midwest rail history. I got there in '93 and left for East Bethel, MN in '99, and I’m still intrigued by the railroading in CR/Marion. Another thing I found interesting was where the MILW line to Cedar Rapids split from the main in Marion. I hiked that line (while the CC&P was still operating that stretch), and I found the switch where the line split-off the main that ran behind what’s now Home Depot on 1st Ave. and then under 1st Ave. near the Irish Democrat, and on down near Coe College to reach their yard. I even have a b&w photo framed at home of a westbound MILW steam-engine leading a passenger train across the bridge over the mill pond that was filled-in over there north of 7th Ave.
When I was there, they were just in the process of filling-in the 1st Ave. overpass, and now it’d be hard to even imagine that was such a busy connecting artery through the city for someone new to the area. When I found the switch off the MILW main, I had to check my old city maps and re-locate the ROW south of there where it crossed Blairs Ferry Rd. to make certain I was correct. It was so over-grown and so little remained of the ROW south from the main, it was hard to envision regular freight traffic travelling between Marion and CR.
WIAR, my bad. You’re right. I had completely forgotten about the Waterloo RR.
I can’t remember what year Union Station in downtown C.R. was torn down; had to have been like '61 or '62 I’m guessing; I was just a little tyke at the time and simply have no recollection of it. But after the MILW took over the Cities Streamliners between Chicago and Omaha the CNW countered with at least a couple of new trains. One I think was the Corn King and the other would have been the Kate Shelley that would have both used Union Station. But that would have been so unbelievably cool to watch the parade of Cities Streamliners coming into downtown. Unfortunately, by 1971, it was a combined train dubbed the “City of Everywhere”. No wonder it was so long.
On another front, the MILW branchline that ran between Paralta (just east of Marion) and Jackson Junction went through my hometown of Edgewood and the crews on that run were always bringing me timetables and other stuff. Priceless.
Cedar Rapids is still a neat place for photos be it on the (now) UP’s “Overland Route” mainline or the CN’s Manchester - Cedar Rapids secondary mainline but it just doesn’t seem to have the same charm it used to have; especially when the MILW was there.
BTW, anyone know when the CN northbound run from C.R. departs town for Manchester?
Mmmm, Zoey’s! [dinner]
Mmmm, Irish Democrat (we’ve been eating alot of meals there lately… GOOD food!). [dinner]
Yeah, I watched the city fill that overpass in- they figured it was such a good idea, they went and did the same thing to the Edgewood Road overpass over the MILW ROW. Someday, when all the bickering with NIMBYs is over and they finally extend Highway 100 around to US 30 west of town, they’re going to have to tear that old bridge out… [(-D]
If you’re heading to CR, think about pullin’ off I-35 on Hwy. 9 and check-out Manly, then if you go a bit further to Osage, there’s a terrific small-town eatery on Main St. with great food: Teluwut Grill House on Main St. (no I don’t own the place - not advertising). I found it on trips to CR and they serve a heck of a steak sandwich.
You may see some action on the CN’s former Cedar Valley line in Osage, on the ICE that crosses Hwy. 9, and of course the Spine Line and IANR in Manly.
You can take T38 south out of Osage and catch Hwy 14 south through Greene (IANR) and on to Parkersburg (CN/IC) to Hwy. 20 east.
Lately I’m not sure when they’ve been heading out- yesterday morning (around 7:30 AM) while heading down to catch the UP action, I noticed that the inbound had already arrived and the engines were sitting down by the power plant across from Quaker. I suspect they headed back north before Noon. I think the weekend schedule can be quite different, though, as I sometimes hear the southbound coming down in early evening.
Sounds like the same schedule the CC&P kept when I lived there. Their southbound job was already in the yard (with that rusty old IC caboose) when I’d pass-over the yard on I-380 on the way into work.
Great thread about the old hometown. I grew up across the street from the Milwaukee/ICG/CCP there in Marion. I can tell you a lot about CR and Marion but I think Brian has hit most of it and others as well.
I just did a piece not long ago in THE MILWAUKEE RAILROADER on Atkins, IA. A division point on the Iowa mainline.
Regarding the CN, they have made some sked changes out of Cedar Rapids again. I guess the crew goes on duty now at CR anywhere from 0500-0900, takes the train to Dubuque, ties up for rest, then comes back the next day. Sunday is the day off, so expect to go north M-W-F, and back out of Dubuque the opposite day.
MILW86A
So only one train a day six days a week, eh? Hmmm. I was wondering where they went to after Manchester, and I always thought it was Dubuque, but lately I had my doubts.
OK, one more artifact of the railroads in Cedar Rapids culture. The neighborhood immediately north and west of the CNW city line bridge is called Time Check.
From the city’s website explaining the name of a recreational center in that neighborhood:
The term “time check” dates back to the 1870’s and refers to the northwest neighborhood that surrounds the center. Over 120 years ago, this area was the most convenient location to live for men who worked at the old B.C.R. and N. (Burlington, Cedar Rapids, and Northern) Railway shops that were on man-made land between the Cedar River and Cedar Lake. When hard financial times hit in the mid-1870’s, the bankrupt railway paid the workers with “time checks” when payment might be delayed for a long time. Accommodating merchants accepted these checks as payment for goods. The merchants began calling the railway workers “time checkers” and eventually this term was applied to this residential district.
http://www.cedar-rapids.org/recreation/timecheck.asp
The B.C.R.&.N. was later taken over by the Rock Island. The part north of Cedar Rapids survives as the IANR.
During ICG days (70’s & early/mid 80’s) it used to be that they would leave C.R. in the very late afternoon or very early evening and make their run to Manchester to set out and pick-up and then head back to C.R. again. During my days at Kirkwood Community College I got to know the crew on this run very well and for a graduation present they let me ride with them to Manchester and back. That was incredibly awesome.
BTW, the Atkins article was a great piece of work. Just opened up the wounds of me missing the MILW’s Green Island - Council Bluffs mainline that much more. I know I’ve mentioned this one before but in the early to mid-60’s on the street that is just east of where the Marion depot was used to be protected by banjo-type crossing signals. It was so incredibly neat to see either one of the Cities trains or a long freight going through town and those signals going.
Other great C.R./Marion memory: In 1970 when I was in elementary school my Dad took me to the Marion depot (I think he FINALLY got sick of my begging!). I’ll never forget it. I walked up to the station agent’s window booth and asked for a Milwaukee Road passenger timetable. He smiled and
Back in her single days (late 70’s), my wife owned a mobile home in Bali Hai East in Hiawatha. Her bedroom, on the back end of the mobile home, was a scant 100 feet from the tracks. Needless to say she was well acquainted with ICG’s schedule back then.
Do any of you Cedar Rapids folks know when the branch to Anamosa was scrapped? Did they operate that branch as a local out of Marion?
The Paralta - Jackson Junction branch (which went thru my hometown of Edgewood) was abandoned in two segments. The Hopkinton - Jackson Jct. segment was abandoned in the summer of 1977 (God, that was SO sad to see the rails pulled up in my hometown [:(]). The Paralta - Hopkinton segment lasted a while longer - up until the embargo/abandonment of a majority of MILW trackage in Iowa in 1980. The rails were pulled up either in the summer of '80 or '81; much to the chagrin of a shipper in Monticello that was counting on continued service by the MILW in eastern Iowa.
Ahhh yes, Monticello: One of the great speed traps in eastern Iowa. Hwy. 151 there on the west side of town is a known spot for fundraisers (I know because I got nailed there and the town cops don’t give warnings).
Did a local out of Marion handle that branch? I drove-out towards Anamosa once, specifically to hike that branch’s ROW, but I couldn’t find a good, inconspicuous place to park.
Yes, the northbound run originated at Marion Yard while the return southbound run originated at Calmar.
Did you know that you don’t have to drive THROUGH Monticello anymore? 151 is now a four-lane expressway all the way from SW CR to Madison. Sure is great when I want to head up into Wisconsin- went to the Mad City RR Show back in March, and it only took me a little over three hours to get there.