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<p>In 1872, the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota Railway (BCR&M) completed a 31-mile railroad line between Muscatine, Iowa and Riverside, Iowa. In 1878, the BCR&M became part of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway (BCR&N). In 1880, the Iowa City & Western Railway (IC&W) extended the line an additional 46 miles to What Cheer, Iowa; and also constructed a 16 mile branch from Thornburg, Iowa to Montezuma, Iowa. It is believed that the IC&W was leased by the BCR&N soon after completion of the line. Throughout the 1880s, the BCR&N became a major railroad in Iowa, connecting towns in the eastern and northern portions of the state. This line served as a branch line for the BCR&N, connecting small towns in southeast Iowa. Near the west end of the line, the route served extensive coal mines near What Cheer. By the turn of the 20th Century, the BCR&N operated over 1,000 miles of track throughout Iowa, connecting both small towns and large cities. In 1902, the BCR&N formally acquired the IC&W. In June 1903, the BCR&N was acquired by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway (Rock Island), which operated a large railroad network through the midwestern United States. </p><p>Much of this line directly paralleled an existing Rock Island mainline, which ran between Davenport, Iowa and Iowa City, Iowa. In 1938, the line between Iowa Junction (east of Riverside) and Muscatine would be abandoned. The Rock Island struggled financially throughout much of its history, experiencing repeated bankruptcies and chronic instability. After World War II, the Rock Island struggled to survive, proposing mergers and deferring maintenance on their routes. The railroad reorganized as the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad in 1948. In 1956, the line between Thornburg and What Cheer was abandoned. By the mid-1970s, the railroad was in serious decline. The railroad secured loans to eliminate slow orders, acquired new equipment, and attempted to restore profitability. In February 1974, the remaining line between Iowa Junction and Montezuma was sold to the Central Iowa Railway. Due to financial strain, the railroad was short lived and the entire line was embargoed in October 1974. In 1978, the line was formally abandoned and the tracks removed. Today, little remains of this line, and almost all of the right-of-way has been returned to adjacent landowers.</p>
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