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Shown above is Milwaukee Railroad locomotive No, 48, built in1866. This type of locomotive,,and the cars as shown, were used extensively .in the early days of the road’s lines in Iowa and South Dakota. No. 48 was scrapped in 1898. (Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Railroad).By Margaret DurantIowa communities in the 1830*s looked forward :to. the day when the railroad lines from the . east would be built across the state. As early as 1855 Asa C. Call made plans for bringing railroad service to the Algona settlement. Both he and his brother Ambrose owned stock in the McGregor and Dakota Railroad Company that proposed construction of a line across northern Iowa within a few years.Judge Call demonstrated his sincere interest in the railroad project by sending his brother Ambrose and four others, in 1858, on an exploring trip that took the party as far west as the Big Sioux country/ He also considered the possibility of a railway line from the south that would give Algona connections with the larger, well-established I settlements in central IoWa.During the Civil -War (1861-1065) construction work, requiring a considerable number of men, went forward slowly. The line westward from McGregor was thirteen years in building from McGregor to Algona. Ownership changed several times during those years, but : before reaching Algona; • it became / the . Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railway Company, commonly referred to as the “Milwaukee.”The First TrainTrack was laid between Nora Springs and Algona in 1870v On the evening of August 13 the first passenger train came in. Sixteen vears after its founding Call’slogically “new town” sprang up at this location1 as opposed to “old town,” the original settlement. Difference of opinion in regard to, the proper location for the station continued for some time, but after 84 years the station is still in the same place and the area between the two “villages” is filled with residences and business enterprises.With the several means of transportation (railroad, truck and . bus .. lines, airplane) now available,, it is difficult , to realize. the change 'railroad .fibrvicar brought to communities that had been dependent on stages • for transportation of passengers and mail and freight wagons for hauling supplies. Algona’s pioneer period ended with the arrival of the Milwaukee railroad. Mrs Florence Call Cowles in her bookincluding a comfortable hotel and several good residences. For several years depot town flourished. •In 1878 a legislative grant of land opened the way for extending the line beyond Algona. By the end of the year trains were running as far as Sheldon.The average boy, in those years, considered railroading one of the most interesting of all occupations. Russell B. Waller, editor of the Algona Upper Des Moines, recalls hearing his father recount his experiences as an employee of the Milwaukee railroad. In the late 1680’s young Waller, although only 18 years of age, worked as a brakeman on a run west out of Mason City,Northwestern Ip 1881 Although railway connections from the east solved Altfonu’swas a long flight of steps reaching from ground level to an\ele-vated platform, beside the Rock Island track. Handling transfer baggage and mail on a cold or windy day was no easy task.. Even a short trip in those years could be an adventure, if it included a wait for connections at Gerled.Efforts to build the Iowa Central .Railway from Beltriond to Algona began as early as 1886. This, however, was not accomplish until 1899. Kossuth county gained another town through the Belmond extension. It was named St. Benedict. “Rich Point” five miles from Algona, was never anything more than . a• « i • « i « 9 ... p. ..uneven roadbed were primitive as -compared with the luxurious streamliners that ’glide along the railroads’ main lines nowadays,, they furnished a connection with the outside world for those who wished to travel and brought the I outside world to stay-at-homes I through lecturers, \heatrical groups and concert companies.The railroads, in the Algona area; are no longer a major factor in our commercial enterprises, but during this Centennial observance we should not fail to recall our indebtedness to the men who promoted the railroad prpjects in early days and the railroad executives who made those proposals a reality.
Newspaper Details
Algona Upper Des Moines
Algona, Iowa, US
Tue, Jun 29, 1954
Page 98
Full Page
Clipped by
Austin P.
MN, USA 06 Aug 2018
Other Publications Near Algona, Iowa
Daily Upper Des Moines
Algona Courier
Algona Republican
Atlas of Kossuth County Iowa
Algona Upper Des Moines
