 A surviving former WCF&N interurban car | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Waterloo, Iowa |
| Locale | Iowa |
| Dates of operation | 1896–1958 |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Electrification | Overhead line, 650V and 1300V DC, [1] abandoned 1957-1958 |
The Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern Railway (WCF&N) was an electric interurban railway that operated in the US state of Iowa.
The Waterloo and Cedar Falls Rapid Transit was organized in 1895 to build an 8-mile line from Waterloo to nearby Cedar Falls, Iowa, which it completed in 1897. [2] In 1904 the company renamed itself Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern Railway and began expanding outward, completing a 22-mile line from Waterloo north to Waverly in 1910 and a 60-mile line south to Cedar Rapids, where connection was made with the Cedar Rapids & Iowa City interurban, in 1914. [2] In the 1920s it operated eight passenger trains per weekday to Cedar Rapids, four to Waverly, and every half hour from Waterloo to Cedar Falls. [3] It also operated a belt line for freight trains around Waterloo, [3] as well as local streetcar service in Waterloo (1896-1939) and Cedar Falls (1898-1941). [2] Passenger service to Waverly ended in 1955, to Cedar Rapids in 1956, and to Cedar Falls in 1958, [2] making it the last interurban west of Chicago and east of California. [4]
In 1956 the railway was jointly purchased by the Illinois Central and Rock Island railroads, who renamed it Waterloo Railroad and converted its freight operations to diesel power. Illinois Central became sole owner in 1968 and abandoned most of the Waterloo Railroad in the 1970s. [1]
A section of former WCF&N track near Waterloo remains in use for freight service by Illinois Central's successor Canadian National. [1] Since the 1980s most of the right-of-way between Waterloo and Cedar Rapids has been used for the Cedar Valley Nature Trail. [5] The former depot in Center Point (on the Waterloo-Cedar Rapids line) is used as a museum and rest stop.
Cedar Falls is a city in Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 40,713. Cedar Falls is home to the University of Northern Iowa, a public university.
The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s. Until 1972, when the employees purchased the company, it was named the Chicago and North Western Railway.
The Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway, also known as the CRANDIC, is a Class III railroad operating in the US state of Iowa.
Cedar Valley (Nature) Trail is a rail trail running 52 miles (84 km) from Hiawatha, Iowa to Waterloo, Iowa.
Central Station was an intercity passenger terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois, at the southern end of Grant Park near Roosevelt Road and Michigan Avenue. Owned by the Illinois Central Railroad, it also served other companies via trackage rights. It opened in 1893, replacing Great Central Station, and closed in 1972 when Amtrak rerouted services to Union Station. The station building was demolished in 1974. It is now the site of a redevelopment called Central Station, Chicago.
The Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway (M&StL) was an American Class I railroad that built and operated lines radiating south and west from Minneapolis, Minnesota for 90 years from 1870 to 1960. The railway never reached St. Louis but its North Star Limited passenger train ran to that city via the Wabash Railroad.
The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad at its height provided passenger and freight railroad services between Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan, USA. The company was formed on January 18, 1854.
The Sacramento Northern Railway was a 183-mile (295 km) electric interurban railway that connected Chico in northern California with Oakland via the state capital, Sacramento. In its operation it ran directly on the streets of Oakland, Sacramento, Yuba City, Chico, and Woodland. This involved multiple car trains making sharp turns at street corners and obeying traffic signals. Once in open country, SN's passenger trains ran at fairly fast speeds. With its shorter route and lower fares, the SN provided strong competition to the Southern Pacific and Western Pacific Railroad for passenger business and freight business between those two cities. North of Sacramento, both passenger and freight business was less due to the small town agricultural nature of the region and due to competition from the paralleling Southern Pacific Railroad.
The Indiana Railroad (IR) was the last of the typical Midwestern United States interurban lines. It was formed in 1930–31 by combining the operations of the five major interurban systems in central Indiana into one entity. The predecessor companies came under the control of Midland Utilities, owned by Samuel Insull. His plan was to modernize the profitable routes and abandon the unprofitable ones. With the onset of the Great Depression, the Insull empire collapsed and the Indiana Railroad was left with a decaying infrastructure and little hope of overcoming the growing competition of the automobile for passenger business and the truck for freight business. The IR faced bankruptcy in 1933, and Bowman Elder was designated as the receiver to run the company. Payments on bonded debt were suspended. Elder was able to keep the system virtually intact for four years, and IR operated about 600 miles (970 km) of interurban lines throughout Indiana during this period. During the late 1930s, the routes were abandoned one by one until a 1941 wreck with fatalities south of Indianapolis put an abrupt end to the Indiana Railroad's last passenger operations.
The Burlington Junction Railway is a Class III short line railroad which was chartered in 1985. Originally operating on the southernmost 3 miles (4.8 km) of the former Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway mainline in Burlington, Iowa after abandonment by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, it provides short freight hauling, switching operations, locomotive repair, and transloading services, the latter currently handling over 3,000 carloads a year. Typical commodity types transported include chemicals and fertilizer. The BJRY's primary interchange partner is the BNSF Railway.
The Iowa Northern Railway is a Class III shortline railroad operating in the U.S. state of Iowa.
The Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric (AE&FRE), was an interurban railroad that operated freight and passenger service on its line paralleling the Fox River. It served the communities of Carpentersville, Dundee, Elgin, South Elgin, St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, North Aurora, Aurora, Montgomery, and Yorkville in Illinois. It also operated local streetcar lines in both Aurora and Elgin.
The Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway (BCR&N) was a railroad that operated in the United States from 1876 to 1903. It was formed to take over the operations of the bankrupt Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota Railway, which was, in turn, the result of merging several predecessor lines, the construction of which began in 1869. The corporate headquarters were in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and it had operations in Iowa and in Minnesota. It was succeeded by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway.
The Midwest Electric Railway is a non-profit trolley operation located on the grounds of the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, United States. It is home to 10 pieces of trolley history that are regularly operated on a 2.5 mile loop surrounding the organization's campgrounds.
The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary connections included Chicago, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; Buffalo, New York; St. Louis, Missouri; and Toledo, Ohio.
Illinois Central No. 790 is a preserved 2-8-0 “Consolidation” steam locomotive, built by ALCO’s Cooke Works in 1903. In 1959, No. 790 was saved from scrap and purchased by Lou Keller, and he used it to pull excursion trains in Iowa. In 1965, the locomotive was sold to a New York businessman, who, in turn, sold it the following year to F. Nelson Blount, the founder of Steamtown, U.S.A.. As of 2024, No. 790 is on static display at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
The La Porte City Station, also known as the La Porte City Hall, is a historic building located in La Porte City, Iowa, United States. It was built as a depot for the Waterloo, Cedar Falls & Northern Railroad, an interurban system. The system began in 1885 as the Waterloo Street Railway Co., and grew to include routes to Cedar Falls (1897), Denver, Iowa (1901), and Waverly (1906). In 1912 it was expanded to Cedar Rapids, and this building was constructed at that time. It is a single-story, brick, Georgian Revival structure. It served as a depot until 1928, when it was replaced by a new building that was more freight focused rather than passenger focused as this depot was. This building was acquired by La Porte City at that time for use as a city hall. The community's public library was organized in 1945, and it was located here as well. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The library has subsequently been moved to a different building on Main Street.
The Chicago Great Western Railroad-Waterloo Freight Depot is a historic building located in Waterloo, Iowa, United States. In 1887 the Chicago, St. Paul & Kansas City Railroad (CSP&KC) was the third system to enter the city, after the Illinois Central (1870) and the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway (1876). The CSP&KC was the first of the three to put its depots in the downtown area. Initially it built two depots in Waterloo, one on the west side of the Cedar River and one on the east side. By 1892 it had built separate passenger and freight depots along East Sixth Street. That was the same year that the CSP&KC became known as the Chicago Great Western Railroad. In 1903 the railroad built new passenger and freight depots a block south, moving them closer to the city's wholesale houses. The two-story concrete block freight depot was built on a rough limestone foundation. It features round arch freight doors and a simple wood cornice. The concrete block addition on the southeast side replaced a frame gabled structure, but its construction date is unknown. The old brick passenger depot was torn down in 1973, and the freight depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. In 2001 the building, which is owned by the City of Waterloo, was leased to the University of Northern Iowa for its Center for Urban Education (UNI-CUE).
The WCF & N Center Point Depot and Substation, also known as the Center Point Depot Museum, is a historic building located in Center Point, Iowa, United States. The Mission Revival building was constructed in 1914 by the Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern Railway, an interurban line that ran between the Waterloo – Cedar Falls area and Cedar Rapids. Passenger service ended here in 1956, and rail freight was discontinued in 1973. The station sat empty until it was renovated beginning in 1983. Other renovation projects were carried out 1998 to 1999 and 2013. The building was acquired by the Linn County Conservation Board in the early 1980s and turned into a museum and rest stop along the Cedar Valley Nature Trail, which follows the former rail bed. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.