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The Iowa Route: A History of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway

by Don L. Hofsommer

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A regional railroad’s bid to reshape Upper Midwest connections

$66.18 USD
$88.24 USD $66.18 USD
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Hardcover New English

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A regional railroad’s bid to reshape Upper Midwest connections

Don L. Hofsommer traces the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway through its corporate beginnings, development, and eventual disappearance, using the line to examine the pressures faced by smaller carriers as larger railroad systems expanded. The account situates the BC&N within the commercial life of Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota, following its efforts to establish a north–south corridor that could link Minneapolis–St. Paul and St. Louis in competition with Chicago. It also addresses unrealized plans that might have extended the railway’s significance toward the Pacific. More than 200 historic photographs accompany this history of a three-state regional network and the changing railway era around it.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Railroad-history readers interested in regional carriers
  • Upper Midwest history enthusiasts
  • Readers seeking archival railway photography alongside business and transportation history

Themes

Regional railroadsUpper Midwest commerceRailway expansion and consolidationCorporate historyIowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

The Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway was an important part of the commercial life of the upper Midwest during the age of railways. Don L. Hofsommer uses the BC&N as the vehicle for his investigation of the birth, evolution, and disappearance of an important regional carrier, offering an inside look at the struggles of a small railway to stay relevant while railroad empires were being built. More than a bit player, the BC&N might have become even more important had plans gone forward to utilize its rails in a campaign to reach the Pacific. The struggle of the Cedar Rapids road and its corporate ancestors to place Minneapolis-St. Paul and St. Louis in competition with Chicago via a north/south route forms a major part of the book's narrative, and the book also offers a history of the company's three-state service territory (Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota) from the dawn of the age of railways into the 20th century. The book includes more than 200 photographs selected from Hofsommer's extensive library of historic photographs documenting the history of the BC&N Railway.

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