(Submitted to the Clear Lake Mirror-Reporter)
What’s little, orange, and 126 years old?
If you drive “the back road” between Clear Lake and Mason City, you already know the answer. Not quite 10 miles of track, three strange little locomotives, and lots of historic railroading, it’s called the Iowa Traction Railroad and it’s been part of North Iowa since 1897.
That year the Mason City & Clear Lake Railroad (MC&CL) was formed by W. E. Brice and L. H. Ong. With a busy brick and tile business in one city and a bustling resort in the other, they saw lots of possibilities. Today it’s the oldest continuously operating electric railroad in the U.S.
From the beginning it was always about the freight business. In the early days before refrigeration, ice cut from Clear Lake was shipped to distant cities. In 1929 the railroad bought the brickyards in Mason City. This smart business decision helped the MC&CL survive the Great Depression. While very profitable in the late 1940’s, business fell off in the 1950’s.
At a time when automobiles were not that common, a passenger ticket was 25 cents one way. Just like today, the 4th of July was a busy time in Clear Lake and riders got a free ticket home with each one they bought. Passenger service ended in 1937, replaced by bus service which stopped in 1959.
Those funny little locomotives, painted in “traction orange”, were built between 1904 and 1921. With a top speed of 10 miles per hour, they get the job done. The Clear Lake Limited, a special trolley car built in 1917, was used to host excursions, but concerns about insurance ended its run. It rarely gets used.
Half way between its two namesakes, Emery was the center of the operation. Originally the company laid out “Traction Park” at the site, with employee housing, a general store, and grain elevator. Today it’s just a busy rail yard and still company headquarters.
The Name Game
In 1961 H.C. Boyer bought the MC&CL and re-named it the Iowa Terminal Railroad (ITR). A “spectacular fire” in the Emery carbarn in 1967 was almost the end of the road – three cars, a locomotive, spare parts and other pieces of operating equipment were lost. But it was rebuilt.
The ITR became the Iowa Traction Railroad Company (IATR) in 1987 when it was purchased by four shareholders. Progressive Rail Inc. (PGR) bought the IATR In 2012 and re-named it the Iowa Traction Railroad.
PGR is both a shortline railroad and an owner of several other railroads in the Midwest. Headquartered in Lakeville, Minnesota, their philosophy is to offer service larger railroads choose not to provide, plus finding new customers and regaining former customers.
A switching railroad, most activity is within three miles of Emery. While there’s some local business, the line west to Clear Lake doesn’t get much use. Interchange cars (loads that will go on to other railroads) provide the most business. AGP in Mason City – where soybeans go in and meal and oil come out – is a good example. Their siding was built in 1994.
The “hub” for these interchanges is located at an unmarked spot called Clear Lake Junction, right off 19th Street in western Mason City. One set of tracks connects with the Union Pacific Railroad. Once they belonged to the Rock Island Railroad, then the Chicago Great Western, and finally the Chicago & North Western, which merged with the Union Pacific. The other connection is with the Canadian Pacific Railroad on tracks that used to be owned by the Milwaukee Road, then the Soo Line, and the I&M Rail Link.
