Fort Dodge Nature Trail - Soldier Creek Bridge (West)

In 1877, the Fort Dodge & Fort Ridgeley Railroad Company (FD&FR) began construction of a 16-mile railroad line, extending from Livermore, Iowa to Humboldt, Iowa.  After several delays, work on the line was completed in 1879.  In 1879, the FD&FR constructed an additional 13 miles of new railroad from Humboldt to Fort Dodge, Iowa.  At the same time, the Minnesota and Iowa Southern Railway (M&IS) began construction on a 60-mile railroad line, extending from the Minnesota/Iowa State Line towards Livermore, Iowa.  The same year, the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway (M&StL) constructed 13 miles of new railroad, extending from Albert Lea, Minnesota to the State Line.  Both the M&IS and M&StL segments were completed in late 1880.  The FD&FR and M&IS were consolidated into the M&StL in 1881, which was reorganized as the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad (M&StL) in 1895.  This line served as a secondary mainline for the M&StL, and provided connections to Des Moines, Iowa and other branch lines.  To reach the other M&StL line at Tara, Iowa; the M&StL utilized trackage rights over the Illinois Central Railroad (IC) between Fort Dodge and Tara.

The M&StL was a small midwestern railroad, connecting Minneapolis, Minnesota to Peoria, Illinois.  The M&StL mainly served as a bridge railroad, allowing eastern and western railroads to interchange while bypassing the congested terminals at Chicago.  Secondary lines and branch lines primarily served agricultural industries.  Because the M&StL had light freight density and limited passenger service, the railroad survived on razor thin margins and often was in financial stress.  The M&StL would later reorganize as the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway in approximately 1920.  Through the 1930s, the railroad focused on trimming excess routes and improving the financial situation.  After leaving receivership in 1943, the M&StL invested significant capital upgrading infrastructure and modernizing equipment.  By the 1950s, it became clear that the M&StL would need to merge with a larger railroad to survive.  In 1960, the M&StL was purchased by the Chicago & North Western Railway (C&NW) during one of the first major railroad consolidations in the second half of the 20th Century.  

The C&NW operated other nearby routes in northern and central Iowa, rendering this route excess.  In 1976, the line between Albert Lea and Lake Mills, Iowa would be abandoned.  The segment between Humboldt and Luverne, Iowa was abandoned in 1979, followed by segments between Lake Mills and Luverne and Rogerton, Iowa and Fort Dodge in 1981.  The final segment of this line to be abandoned came in 1985, and consisted of the segment between Humboldt and Rogerton.  Today, almost all of the line has been acquired by adkacent landowners and plowed under for farm fields.  Short segments in Humboldt and Fort Dodge have been reused as part of the Three Rivers Trail and the Fort Dodge Nature Trail, respectively.