TIMES ARE CHANGING

The article states that a north bound freight that leaves the Eldora Station at 10:08 a.m. was supposed to wait for 40 minutes for a south bound freight that was running behind time.

Both the conductor and engineer of #11 thought they could make it to Steamboat Rock before the south bound freight #22 arrived. They made a bold attempt, but when they reached the curve just north of the water tank, both trains met and collided. Locomotive #22 coming south mounted #11 going north almost
demolishing it. Additional damage resulting from the wreck included at least three or four freight cars.

The article went on to state that this was the second or third time that the engineer of #11 had attempted to make Steamboat Rock without orders. The earlier attempts had resulted in near misses. The writer went on, “The company should punish such recklessness by prompt dismissal.”

The railroad superintendent, Pickering, had cleanup help sent from Marshalltown, and the track was cleared and trains were running on normal schedule by the following day.

The road suffered from financial reverses, changes in management, and insufficient traffic almost from the start. In the middle of the seventies Isaac M. Cate succeeded Gilman in the presidency, and in 1876 Josiah B. Grinnell was appointed receiver. This well known Iowa pioneer preacher, and politician who had done so much for the state had little success unraveling the road’s financial entanglements. Two years later he resigned and was succeeded by H. L. Morrell, a railroad man of wide experience. On May 5, 1879, the Central Railroad Company of Iowa emerged from the hands of the courts as the Central Iowa Railway.

Steamboat Rock had a Dray-Line. A Dray-Line for those not familiar was an individual or group of individuals with a wagon and team of horses or more commonly a team of mules that hauled freight between the town and the train station. In Steamboat Rock this was very important due to the great distance from the business district of the town and the depot.

While there were earlier dray operators, the earliest known person to operate the dray-line in Steamboat Rock, was Phillip Behrends who arrived in 1882. Information on who operated the business prior to his time has not been found.

The Dray-Line was kept busy hauling local freight to town. Everything from farm implements to groceries, were shipped in and items like cream, poultry, eggs etc. were shipped out. Among the unusual items that were shipped was sand. Later ice was shipped and became big business.

There were many changes that the railroad brought to the small towns, and Steamboat Rock was no exception. There are two that stand out in my mind as being the greatest.

First there are the advances that the railroad brought to agriculture, and that by its arrival farming grew from a means of feeding one’s family to the first step in a means of feeding the world.

Second, is the opportunity that the railroad brought to the German immigrant to settle on the fertile farmland around us.