Railroad Forums 

  • Old Wabash branches in missouri and Iowa

  • Discussion related to the Norfolk & Western, up to 1982. Also includes discussion of the Virginian Railway (1959); Wabash; Nickel Plate; Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway; Akron, Canton & Youngstown Raiload (all 1964); and the Illinois Terminal (1981).
Discussion related to the Norfolk & Western, up to 1982. Also includes discussion of the Virginian Railway (1959); Wabash; Nickel Plate; Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway; Akron, Canton & Youngstown Raiload (all 1964); and the Illinois Terminal (1981).
 #189307  by Hoosierailnut
 
When was the wabash Omaha/Council Bluffs to Brunswick abandoned and does NS still operate the Moberly to Des Moines branch?

 #189843  by route_rock
 
BNSF runs the branch from Albia to Des Moines. Some spots are NS but they never run on them. BNSF runs two trains out of Burlington. The first leaves on sunday spends the night and on monday returns, passing its counterpart on its way out.

 #223233  by squints16
 
In June 1983, the Norfolk and Western Railway Company (Norfolk), as lessee and operator of the line of railroad, and the Wabash Railroad Company, as owner of the line, jointly applied with the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) for permission to abandon and discontinue operation of the railroad line. The railroad companies cited several reasons to support their application for abandonment: (1) the significant
financial liability caused by operating the line; (2) the poor condition of the track structure; and (3) the decreasing demand from shippers.

The Northern Missouri Railroad, a local short-line railroad company, began operating trains over the Wabash tracks between Brunswick, Missouri, and Blanchard, Iowa. The railroad company soon experienced financial difficulties, however, and in October 1986, it discontinued service over the rail corridor. Subsequently, Norfolk removed the bridges, ties, and rail from the entire corridor in the second half of 1988, completing the work by December 1988.

The Wabash from Council Bluffs to the Missouri border was also abandoned border in 1988.
 #1232216  by Engineer Spike
 
I used to work for BN out of Galesburg. The NS traffic came off their line and up via W. Quincy-Burlington, which was another crew district. My district worked west to Creston, IA. We had a job up the branch to Des Moines. I forgot if it started in Galesburg, or Burlington.

The branch was changed due to some dam, so parts were Wabash, and others Burlington. The best parts of both lines were combined. The timetable showed some mileages in the WAB series, then it would switch back to a Q series. At one point it was all renumbered with consecutive numbered mileages.

That's all I can say, as I never covered that job.