When talk began circulating in 1848 about the importance of railroads, the people of Cascade grew anxious. Without direct access to navigable rivers other than the Mississippi over 36 miles away, their community could very well fade from existence. They needed a railroad as soon as possible. The idea raced forward, with the backing of the Chicago, Clinton, Dubuque and Minnesota Railroad Company, or "the River Road," which ran along the western bank of the Mississippi River and passed through Bellevue. Their hopes and dreams became reality in a three-foot-gauge line 31 years later, in 1879. In 1880, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway purchased the River Road, which included the narrow-gauge branch line to Cascade. Overjoyed at having a larger entity involved, anticipation for the widening of the rails to standard gauge grew quickly. This book relates the story from the beginning to its abandonment in 1936. Today Bellevue and Cascade survive as thriving small towns and are economically healthy. Despite the fact that 70 years have passed since the last spike was pulled, many people know of and recall Iowa's last narrow-gauge railroad.

What began as a study of the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway stretched into more than a dozen contributions on Hawkeye state railroad topics. By 1969 Donovan had examined Iowa's “Little Three”: Chicago Great Western, Illinois Central, and Minneapolis & St. Paul as well as the state's “Big Four”: Chicago & North Western; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific; and Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific. In addition to these seven core carriers, Donovan covered the state's less prominent railroads: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; Great Northern; and Union Pacific and Wabash. Moreover, he contributed an issue on Iowa's principal interurbans, most of which survived into the 1950s as electric-powered freight-only short lines. In uniting Donovan's articles into a single volume, Iowa Railroads provides the most complete history of Iowa's rail heritage.

Fourth report is accompanied by "Map and profiles of Iowa railroads, 1881".

Fourth report is accompanied by "Map and profiles of Iowa railroads, 1881".

They could be your next-door neighbors--Bill Masterson, Ronnie Wild, Riley Page and Frank Cummings--ex-hippies now living outwardly responsible and respectable lives. But these model citizens still yearn for the old days of freedom. Finally they find a way to break out of the mold and do something daring and different: robbing the tourist-crowded narrow gauge train. This completely modern western is filled with humor and sly glances at today’s society. ROBERT K. SWISHER JR. has been a ranch foreman and a mountain guide. An individual who knows the outdoors and western history, he has successfully combined these interests in stories, poems and novels. He is also the author of “The Land,” “Fatal Destiny,” “Only Magic,” “Last Day In Paradise” and “Love Lies Bleeding,” all from Sunstone Press. Of “The Land,” “Publishers Weekly” said: “If there were a category of historical romances written for men, this moving novel would fit the bill.”

Contains the reports of state departments and officials for the preceding fiscal biennium.