Snapshots of History – December 7, 2023
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Mount Ayr’s depot in 1969.
I recently posted a picture of the Mount Ayr depot on Facebook and someone asked when the last train left Mount Ayr.
Two gentlemen responded that it was 1965 or earlier. I say it was spring 1977. Let’s see who is right.
When the railroad came to Mount Ayr in 1879, it was called the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad. In 1970, the CB&Q merged with the Great Northern Railway to form the Burlington Northern.
So, I go into the digitized, Mount Ayr Record-News newspapers and I type “Burlington Northern” in the “search box.” This feature will bring up every page that contains the phrase “Burlington Northern.” I can narrow my search by using a timeline. This is a very helpful research tool.
In order for a railroad company to abandon a line, it must first get permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission.
Railroads are heavily regulated by the federal government. The government then determines the economical, social, environmental impact of such an action.
It appears the Burlington Northern applied for abandonment of the Lamoni-to-Mount Ayr line in 1975. I say that because of an article in the March 18, 1976 Record-News stating the ICC wasn’t going to bother conducting an impact study and gave April 8, 1976 as the date for abandonment.
This date was contingent on an official objection which any citizen was allowed to make.
I found no evidence of an objection and 19.7 miles of railroad disappeared.
What followed was a scramble to purchase lots from the B-N, the former railroad right-of-way. The Mount Ayr City Council had been looking for a location for a new water tower and they found it on the old right-of-way. The council had previously looked at the Industrial Park in east Mount Ayr but the Federal Aviation Administration said, “You need to wake up; there’s an airport next door.” I might have exaggerated but they said NO.
I worked for the Ringgold County Conservation Board in 1977 and I remember director Mark Versch ordering me to hop the fence behind Poe Hollow and trim the lower branches of walnut trees on the railroad right-of-way.
I informed him that wasn’t our property and he said, “It will be someday.” And he was right. Versch is also the one who secured a caboose (1979) for the Ringgold Trailway.
The trail opened in October 1979 and was dedicated May 4, 1980. The trail follows the B-N railbed for two miles east of Mount Ayr.
Most of us knew trains were still running in the 1970s because we saw them. I have spoken to a dozen men who were hired to unload boxcars in the early 1970s. My cousin Robin McFall and I were still putting pennies on the rails as late as 1973.
The Mount Ayr depot was relieved of its full-time agent in 1968 and the depot was served by a “mobile agent” after that.
Today, the depot has served as a museum for over twenty-three years. We will once again host the Lighted Christmas Parade this year.
So the official date for the closing of the “Mount Ayr branch” is April 8, 1976. No one guessed right; imagine that.
The trains ran to Lamoni until October 2, 1981.
