Nostalgia & History > Maxon, IA 1991 and 1992

Maxon, IA is located east of Albia on the BNSF Ottumwa Sub. Back in the early 1990's I visited here a few times(and more since then too now that Im in Des Moines). Maxon was named after Ed Maxon, who was the CB&Q's East Iowa Supt in the late 1880's. Maxon is also where the two mains split apart, with the WB thru town and the EB on the south side, coming together at Halpin.

The Iowa Central, later M&STL crossed here too. A tower stood here until about 1932 when it burned. In 1933, CTC was installed from Maxon to Halpin, with the control board in the Albia depot. In November of 1948, a MSTL SB ran into a WB CB&Q train. No injuries occurred.

In photo 1, we have the C&NW turn from Oskaloosa arriving at Maxon with several Cargill tanks to interchange to the BN. Most of the tank traffic was picked up by the BN Ottumwa local(as was this day in February 1991) or Galesburg Division Drag Freights 491/492. One Cargill built there new line to the BNSF at MP 294 west of Ottumwa, the Louie became redundant and was abandoned by the UPRR.

Photo 2 is a EB Coal train on Feb 23, 1991(same date as #1). The CTC Crossovers were located here until about 1994 or 1995, when they were moved about two miles further east. Each main track had a passing track, the WB pass is used today mainly for setting out loaded fuel tanks out of Des Moines for hopper trains to take west to Lincoln or Alliance.

Photo 3 is a WB Empty grain train at the same location from March of 1992. A nice little lashup including a Kodachrome C30-7.

If you wanna see what Maxon looked like in 1954 click here:

http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/railroadiana&CISOPTR=1975&CISOBOX=1&REC=1

That's it for this Iowa Rail history lesson. Thank you for looking.

MILW86A

---

---

---

I remember chaseing the UP local to there about a month or so before they took that line out! And it was really fun cause they went slow enuff that you could get ahead of it and shot it!!! mp111.61 emporia sub.

Some my favorite memories of train chasing are from Maxon/Albia. Made may trips down there from Indianola in the late 80s early 90s. Back in '91-'92 I think it was Tuesdays and Thursdays you could usually catch the NS train out of Moberly in the late afternoon and chase that back toward Des Moines on the joint BN/NS line.
My last HO layout was based on the Albia/Maxon area.

Stephen

Here are a couple of scans of pictures I took at Maxon around the same time. In the first photo a westbound heads through Maxon in the late afternoon light. In the second photo the CNW turn from Eddyville heads back north a couple miles out of Maxon.

Stephen

---

---

That 2nd scan of the northbound back to Eddyville looks like what would have been Lockman in the M&StL days. Behind the photographer would have been a coal mine spur from early 1900s if I got my locations right.

Awesome shot though

Tim

Here is a shot of that same bridge I took earlier this year from almost the same angle.

---