By 1878, the route opened from the town of Waukee to Adel, a distance of approximately 10 miles. By December of 1879, a bridge was completed across the Raccoon River and work continued towards Panora.
In 1881, the route would reach Fonda.
Also in 1881, the DMA&W became part of the Des Moines Northwestern Railroad, which built from Waukee to Clive; and eventually into Des Moines.
At the end of 1888, the route reached Spirit Lake, in Dickinson County. By 1891, the entire route would contain standard gauge track.
Towards the end of the 19th Century, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway was attempting to acquire the route. The deal would be finalized in 1894.
Despite acquiring the line, the Milwaukee Road never had any critical connections for the route north of Yale. As a result, the route was classified as a branch line.
By the 1970s, major abandonments began throughout Iowa as railroads consolidated routes. On this line, the first section to be removed was from Milford to Spirit Lake in 1974.
The route was later abandoned from Spender to Milford in 1978. A mass closure of the route occurred in 1980, and included portions from Clive to Yale, Spencer to Marathon and Jefferson to Albert City.
The remaining segments, from Jefferson to Yale and from Marathon to Albert City were purchased by the Chicago & North Western Railway in 1985.
By 1990, the segment from Jefferson to Herndon was abandoned, and by 1999 the segment from Herndon to Yale would also be abandoned.
The C&NW became a part of Union Pacific Railroad in 1995. Today, they operate one sole portion of this line, from Albert City to Marathon as the Laurens Subdivision.
South of Jefferson, the route is a trail extending to Clive.
06/16/22
This unique truss bridge crosses the North Raccoon River near Jefferson.
The previous bridge here was an 1892 vintage truss bridge. In 1916, a 54-foot deck girder was moved from Bridge #Z-1930, which was fabricated in 1914. By 1920, a 50-foot deck girder was moved from an unknown location. This span was fabricated in 1902.
In 1930, the truss span was moved here to replace the original truss. While it is currently unknown where the span came from, the truss is a 5-panel, 113-foot pin connected Pratt Through Truss, which follows a standard Milwaukee Road design, giving a build date of approximately 1895. A number of these trusses were built on main lines around this time period, including an identical span now located at Merrill, Wisconsin.
In 1946, the bridge was set onto concrete substructures, which replaced the original timber piers.
Railroads often reused spans from main lines to save money, especially along branch lines.
Overall, the bridge appears to remain robust and strong, and certainly capable of carrying pedestrians for years to come. Unfortunately, part of the trestle approach collapsed in 2019 during an ice jam, although the section was repaired and reopened in August 2021.
The author has ranked this bridge as being regionally significant, due to the extensive history of this bridge.
The photo above is an overview.
| Upstream | UP North Raccoon River Bridge |
| Downstream | Perry Trail Bridge |