Hello, Steve.
> The building of the Red Rock Dam on the put the
> track under water. Due to the traffic or lack of it
> the Government would only put in one track to be
> shared by the CB&Q and the Wabash. Some trackage
> was Wabash and other Q with the dispatching done by
> each company for a three year period.
Back in 1987, I think it was, "Trains" magazine
devoted an entire issue to Iowa railroading. One of
the features was a chart showing railroad abandonments
in Iowa up to that time. The chart was not totally
accurate, but close enough for its intended purpose.
It showed abandonments for both the Q and the Wabash
from Albia to Des Moines. Apparently at one time, the
two railroads had virtually identical routes between
the two places, and it was decided, I think in the
1920s, that it would be more economical to combine the
two routes into one. Thus both the Q and the Wabash
abandoned trackage on the Des Moines route.
As to traffic volume: My memory is foggy, but I THINK
that the Wabash had 2 trains a day in each direction
and the Q had one. I do remember seeing the Q switch
in Albia before heading on up to Des Moines.
> Depots were often seperate so the men could smoke,
> chew and spit while the ladies were kept clean in
> there own waiting room
Albia DID have two waiting rooms in its depot. It is
possible that the men's use of tobacco was a reason
for this, but when I became old enough to use the
station, this was no longer an issue. I believe that
I read in another post that the second waiting room
was as a result of the Jim Crow philosophy. That is
not true. Iowa never had a race problem; indeed, we
Hawkeyes were puzzled by some of the attitudes of the
Southerners in these things. It was usual to see both
whites and blacks sharing cars, and even seats, on the
Q back then.
Bill Chambers
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