Rock solid

The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotive, the largest locomotive in the world at 1 million pounds, recently passed through Cedar Rapids on its 2024 Heartland of America Tour. The plume of smoke and echoing whistle is a cherished reminder of the majesty of steam power.

However, the Big Boy isn’t the only source of such memories. The Iowa Interstate Railroad, based in Cedar Rapids, also maintains a majestic steam engine, just not quite as large as the #4014 of the Union Pacific.

The Iowa Interstate #6988 was built by the Datong Locomotive Works of China in 1985. A 2-10-2 configuration, the engine sports two front guide wheels, 10 drive wheels, and two wheels below the engineer’s cabin.

Commonly known as the “Santa Fe” type, it served on the Ji Tong Railway in China for twenty years until retirement and was transported by ship to the United States and refitted to roll on American gauge track.

The powerful black locomotive with a red racing stripe across its cowling pulled excursion trains across Iowa, mostly between Iowa Interstate’s Newton rail yards and its repair shops just west of South Amana. It entered a lengthy standard federally mandated overhaul in 2022, but is in operational condition and can be seen outside the South Amana maintenance shops.

This presence of steam power was made possible 165 years ago when the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad, a subsidiary of the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, began laying ties and rails at Iowa City to complete the line through Iowa, to Council Bluffs. The first city through which it would lay this line was Marengo, the county seat of Iowa County.

In 1858, residents of the county voted to issue $100,000 in bonds to entice the Mississippi and Missouri to build through the northern extent of the region. The bonds were issued at 10 percent interest and payable within twenty years with the provision that the line be completed to Marengo in 1859.

Funding shortages, however, meant Iowa City was as far west as the line had stretched since its arrival at what was then the state’s capital city, in 1855.

The Mississippi and Missouri defaulted on their promise and could not start construction toward the west to meet the deadline. The railroad was then sued, with the presiding judge reaching a compromise in which the railroad executives could reduce the interest rate and pay off the $100,000 with stock in the company.

The agreement was put to a vote and passed by only 74 ballots. With the new terms of the contract, the Mississippi and Missouri was able to procure materials and rails began to be laid westward toward Marengo in October of 1859.

Grading, the leveling of land on which to install track, continued the following Spring. Ties and rails were brought in by horse and cart and laid a few yards at a time. Finally, on Oct. 2, more than 10 months after the promised date, the railroad reached the Iowa County seat. A one story wooden single gable depot was built along the tracks near the community’s grain elevator to receive passengers and cargo.

Six years after the arrival of the rails, the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific fully absorbed the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad and remained a dominant figure across Iowa, connecting Chicago with Council Bluffs and other cities of the Midwest.

The first major accident along the line occurred on the 10th anniversary year of its arrival, when, on July 1, 1870, a train running faster than the posted speed, derailed, throwing its passenger cars from the track and killing its brakeman.

Being so close to the Iowa River and its tributaries, during rainstorms, the lines often shifted or warped, resulting in crashes, and occasionally, the soil simply washed out and was carried away in the torrent beneath the tracks. Later, the lines would be raised by earthen berm, preventing delays or wreckage by natural disaster.

In the late 1930s, the Rock Island upgraded its rails and rolling stock to include the latest in diesel engines, achieving 1,200 horsepower and speeding with streamlined passenger cars from Chicago to Des Moines, and points beyond.

Known as the Rockets, their shiny silver railcars were pulled by sleek TA electromotive diesel engines highlighted with bright red trim. These luxurious coach cars streaked across Iowa at up to 85 miles per hour and by World War II had carried more than 125,000 passengers on the Chicago/Des Moines route through Marengo.

After the war, as soldiers returned and purchased Fords, Chevys, and Chryslers of their own, ridership began to drop. In the late 1960s, the Rocket line became unprofitable, and the final passenger run, Train #7, arrived and departed Iowa City, Marengo, and Des Moines on June 7, 1970.

Another Rocket train, based in the Quad Cities, continued in operation through the nation’s bicentennial, but the era of competitive passenger traffic had come to an end. Ten years afterward, so also did the entire Rock Island line, when it went out of business.

Four years later, the Iowa Interstate Railroad was formed, implementing the right of way tracks that had been laid by the Mississippi and Missouri and Chicago Rock Island and Pacific. The company’s modern black diesel engines with familiar red stripe continue the railroading tradition in Iowa County set by its predecessors 165 years ago.

To commemorate this historic anniversary, the Pioneer Heritage Museum in Marengo is hosting a special tribute to the heritage of the Rock Island and Iowa Interstate line with a lecture and exhibit to be held 2 p.m. on Sunday Oct. 6 at the museum. Admission is free. Stop by and learn the rock solid tradition of the Rock Island in Iowa.

David V. Wendell is a Marion historian, author and special events coordinator specializing in American history.