UP 140th Avenue Bridge

Between 1892 and 1893, the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway completed 47-miles of new railroad, extending from Forest City, Iowa to Armstrong, Iowa.  When initially constructed, this line was separated from the remainder of the BCR&N system.  A connection to the remaining system was not constructed until 1895, when a leased railroad constructed additional trackage south from Forest City.  In 1900, the BCR&N constructed two significant additions to this line, including a 19-mile extension from Armstrong to Estherville, Iowa and a 44-mile line from Lakota, Iowa to Albert Lea, Minnesota.  The intention of these extensions was to connect this line to the BCR&N system at multiple points.  The BCR&N had constructed and acquired a large amount of track in southeast and northern Iowa during the late 19th Century, and had become a modest railroad in the Midwest.  By the turn of the 20th Century, the BCR&N operated over 1,000 route miles, connecting several major terminals in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota.   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 central United States. 

This line served as a secondary line for the Rock Island, serving mainly agricultural industries and connecting more significant Rock Island routes.  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. 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 1978, the railroad came close to profit, but creditors were lobbying for a complete shutdown of the Rock Island.  During the fall of 1979, a strike crippled the railroad, and by January of 1980, the entire system was ordered to be shut down and liquidated.  Many of the lines and equipment were scrapped.  Profitable sections of railroad were prepared for sale.  

In 1981, the Chicago & North Western Railway (C&NW) purchased the profitable section of this line between Estherville and Bricelyn, Minnesota.  The segment between Bricelyn and Albert Lea was abandoned in 1982, and the segment between Lakota and Forest City was abandoned in 1985.  Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, the C&NW invested capital into this line, replacing deteriorated bridges, ties and rail.  In 1995, the C&NW was purchased by the Union Pacific Railroad (UP).  Today, UP operates the Rake Subdivision between Estherville and Bricelyn.  However, a large segment of the line between Gruver and west of Lakota is currently out of service, and has not seen a train since the early 2000s.