The line would be extended in 1877 to Holland, 25 miles past Traer.
In 1880, the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Falls & Northwestern Railway began building from Holland to Iowa Falls, another 26 miles.
They continued and reached Clarion the same year.
1881 saw the 58 mile expansion from Clarion to Emmetsburg, and 1882 an additional 50 miles from Emmetsburg to Lake Park, via Estherville.
Lake Park was the terminus of this line, although other branches extended, including one towards Watertown, South Dakota.
The Cedar Rapids, Iowa Falls & Northern would be sold to the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern in 1902.
The BCR&N would in turn be sold to the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (Rock Island) in 1903.
The Rock Island was one of the main railroads in Iowa, and their empire nearly doubled after the acquisition of the BCR&N.
However, the Rock Island became a poor railroad by the 1970s. By 1980, the Rock Island would be forced to abandoned their entire empire in Iowa, and liquidate as part of their bankruptcy deal.
This line became chopped up significantly. The Sibley to Lake Park to Estherville segment was purchased by Iowa Northwestern Railway, which would eventually abandoned in 2005.
The Chicago & North Western Railway purchased 3 segments:
Estherville to Goldfield
Clarion to Dows
and Iowa Falls to Alden
The Iowa Northern Railway, who purchased the entire mainline from Cedar Rapids to Manly also purchased the Vinton to Dysart segment, which would be abandoned in 2003.
The C&NW was purchased by Union Pacific in 1995, who now owns the remaining three segments as their Dows and Alden Industrial Leads, as well as their Estherville Subdivision. Portions of the route in Grundy County are known as the Pioneer Trail.
06/26/21
Located south of Estherville, this large girder bridge crosses the West For Des Moines River near Iowa Highway 4.
Built in 1902 to replace what appears to be an older truss, the bridge features a single through girder main span, and is approached by three deck girders on either side. The substructures are built of both stone and concrete.
Large girder spans like this are common to cross large rivers. Like most other bridges along this line, this structure dates to 1902.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair condition. Significant deterioration has begun on the concrete substructures, although little deterioration is present on the superstructures.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview.
| Upstream | Estherville Rail Bridge (North) |
| Downstream | Graettinger Rail Bridge |