Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

Railroads Come to Anamosa
submitted by David G. Floyd
The Dubuque Western Railroad was organized in
1854. In 1857 Mr. C.L.D. Crockwell, editor of the
Anamosa Eureka, drew a map showing the Dubuque
Western, Iowa Central Air Line, and a railroad from
Muscatine. Iowa. to St. Paul. Minnesota, with Anamosa
being the prospective railroad center. Crockwell was
very disappointed over these maps. as he printed about
75 of them and only sold about a dozen.
In August 1857, an election was held in Jones County
to give the people of the county the choice of giving the
Dubuque Western Railroad Company the credit of
Jones County. This measure lost by a decisive
majority.
On Dec. 29. 1857, the Dubuque Western was working
its way toward Anamosa. The men and teams grading
the right-of-way across the fields and cutting their way
through Spencer's Summit, could be seen from the
residence of Benjamin Chaplin. about two miles north
of Anamosa.
In the early part of 1858, Col. William T. Shaw of
Anamosa advertised that he wished to purchase
$250,000 worth of Dubuque Western Railroad Post
Notes, for which he offered real estate in Anamosa.
Strawberry I-lill or Langworthy.
In February and March 1858, there were about 400
men working on the right-of-way of the Dubuque
Western Railroad between Anamosa and Monticello.
The winter was very mild and the work was progressing
well. On Aug. 4, 1858, the voters in the Corporation of
Anamosa voted down a proposition for the city of
Anamosa to take $6000 worth of stock in the Dubuque
Western Railroad Co. The number of votes which were
cast in this election indicated a population of about 350
persons in Anamosa at that time.
At a meeting of the stockholders of the Dubuque
Western Railroad Company, held in Dubuque Sept. 1,
1858. Col. Wm. T. Shaw of Anamosa was elected
chairman. and Mr. C.H. Wright. secretary. Thefollowing
persons were elected to the Board of
Directors: L.H. Langworthy. E. Langworthy. H.P.
Ward. David G. Scott. H.A. Wiltse, J.W. Finley. Col.
Wm. T. Shaw, J .I-I. Fisher and John Taylor.
The evening of March 9, 1860, found the Anamosa
citizens in a very jubilant mood, as the first train on the
Dubuque Western R.R. rolled into Anamosa. A large
crowd was on hand to greet the an'ival. The actual
building of this line into the town began in July 1857,
but in the following October the financial panic had
spread throughout the country and the work struggled
on until the autumn of 1859 when Col. William T.
Kraucsh, former chief engineer of the New York 8: Erie
Railroad. took over the building of this railroad.
The first train consisted of the engine, a few freight
cars. a passenger and baggage coach and the caboose.
The rails were not laid all the way to the depot as yet.
so the train was forced to stop just opposite the Bishop
lsabell stone home. The depot was located east of North
Scott Street and northwest of Dubuque Road. A Mr.
Smith was the engineer and Denny Gordon was the
fireman on this first train.
The train schedule, early in the railroad's existence,
was as follows: Left Anamosa at 5:55 a.m. and arrived
in Dubuque at 10:25 a.m.: left Dubuque at 3:30 p.m.,
arrived in Anamosa at 8 p.m. This was a trip of four
and one-half hours for the fifty miles between the two
cities. In 1987, we can make the same trip to Dubuque
in a little over an hour by auto, and we think this a long
time.
The first station agent was a Mr. Brown and he was a
big man, with an even bigger middle. His only exercise
came by way of playing billiards, and his waistline
showed it. He remained as station agent for quite a
number of years.
In the early spring of 1860, the Dubuque Western
R.R. had two locomotives on the line. One was named
the Prairie King; the other, Marion, both of which
were kept very busy. A Mr. George D. Hilton had bought
in Anamosa, and shipped to Dubuque, 1200 bushels of
wheat and 2000 bushels of oats. He had paid 80 to 85
cents a bushel for the wheat and 25 and 26 cents a
bushel for the oats. Also, Fisher 8: Son. and Metcalf.
Graham 8: Company. who operated flour mills in the
Anamosa area, shipped many loads of llour.
A Mr. Phelps was the freightmaster for the Dubuque
Western in Anamosa at that time. He did a very
good job of taking care of the shipments and was wellliked
by everyone in town.
In August 1863, the Dubuque Western RR was
being surveyed and graded between Marion and Cedar
Rapids.The grading between Springville and Marion
was being prepared and bridges built. in readiness for
the laying of the ties and rails.
Pat Cunningham, who lived in Anamosa in the late
1850s, worked as a bridge and depot builder on the
Dubuque Western, and in 1862 moved to Farley, He
later became Roadmaster on the Dubuque
Southwestern. It is believed that he replaced Mr.
Hepner, who was the first Roadmaster on the Dubuque
Western RR, which later became the Dubuque
Southwestern. Mr. Cunningham worked 18 years for
the railroad, a good part of that time as Roadmaster.
At some point during this period. the name of the
Dubuque Western RR was changed to Dubuque
Southwestern. It has been said that the rails on this
railroad were so light that two good strong men could
almost throw one of them over a hay stack. They
were not only very light rails. they were not bolted
together with plates at the ends, as they are today.
Instead, they were held together by a flimsy kind of a
chain formed in a blacksmith shop. This was the reason
for the very slow speeds in traveling over these rails.
The Dubuque Southwestem was extended to Marion
in October 1864, and this event was announced in the
Marion Patriot Newspaper. On Oct. 11, 1864. Mr.
Farley. Superintendent on the Dubuque Southwestern.
announced that he was making plans for two excursion
trains — one for the people of Marion and Linn County
and one for the people of Dubuque. Also that month.
another locomotive was put into service on the
Dubuque Southwestern, which was named the "W.B.
Allison", in honor of Congressman Allison from
Dubuque.
This locomotive was put on the passenger run
between Marion and Dubuque. Early in the winter of
1867. this same locomotive was involved in a serious
accident when it was thrown down a ten-foot
embankment, where it landed wheels up. The engineer,
James Rolla, and the fireman. Sears. trapped under the
overturned locomotive, escaped by crawling through
an opening. They were badly burned by steam and
scalding water.
The forward wheels of the baggage and passenger