Wolf (Fraser Jct.)


No. 8419 wheels an afternoon excursion train over the “low bridge” spanning the Des Moines River on June 2, 2007. This area, near YMCA’s Camp Riveria, was hard hit by flood- ing in 1993 and again in 2010. The triangle- shaped steel brackets held the wooden trolley poles, dating from the interurban days of the Fort Dodge, Des Moines & Southern.


namesake towns. It absorbed three lo- cal railroads, including the Newton & Northwestern, and began a program of electrification. A coal-fired power plant was built at Fraser to supply electricity for the overhead wire, and by 1912 the entire 180-mile system was electrified. In time FDDM&S became the largest interurban railroad in Iowa. Because freight traffic was a significant part of its business, the line was built to steam railroad standards without sharp curves and street running, so that stan- dard freight cars could traverse its rails without interference. Passenger service was curtailed in


the 1920s, and then was discontinued altogether in 1952 . Freight operations continued behind steeple cab electric locomotives, including a trio of 16- wheel, 91-ton freight motors obtained second-hand from Oregon Electric. From the earliest days, flooding on


the line was an issue. In 1912 spring floods washed away the center span of


155th ST. Fraser Low Bridge Riveria IOW A E26


Kate Shelley Country


Illustration by Otto M. Vondrak ©2012 Carstens Publications, Inc. Not all routes and stations shown. Not an official map.


0 1 MILES P70


Kate Shelley Bridge


2 3 BOONE Ogden 30


the original wooden High Bridge, and it was replaced 70 days later with the steel bridge currently in service, re- garded as the tallest single-track bridge used by an interurban railroad in North America. By 1956 the again-bankrupt Fort


Dodge Line, operated in receivership by the Des Moines & Central Iowa, had brought down the trolley wire and


E41 30


dieselized with a fleet of ten GE 70-ton- ners. Business continued as usual until 1968 when the tracks were sold to Chicago & North Western.


Preserving the Heritage The Boone & Scenic Valley grew out


of the town’s love of trains. By 1982, traf- fic had dwindled on the old FDDM&S tracks to the point that C&NW was


43


Boone DES MOINES Mt. Pleasant


High Bridge R21


E26 Ind. Park


Airport


166th DR.


UP (CNW)


B&SV


DIVISION ST. STORY ST.


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