Western Railroad Discussion > Difference of Decades on the RI, Downey IA

Here is another pair of "difference of decades" shots on the old RI at Downey, IA, first town east of Iowa City, digging into the "Godfather files" of famous railfan photographer John Dziobko.  Thanks to Erik Rasmussen of the Quad Cities for scanning John's stuff from March 1975.

1.  Westbound IAIS freight BICR (Blue Island to Cedar Rapids) is at the east crossing in Downey, IA, 2-7-2025.

2.  March 1975 view from John Dziobko of a westbound RI freight at the same crossing.  We were discussing on Facebook the surprise at running a single crappy GE on a road freight, and wondering what train this might be.  Unfortunately John wasn't great about recording details like dates or train numbers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/25 06:16 by AndyBrown.

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3.  Turning around to face west we see the properly pointed pusher on BICR, 2-7-2025.

4.  And a companion view from John in 1975 again, of a backlit eastbound at Downey,  GEs all around!

Thanks for looking,

Andy

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Very cool.
JB

Interesting to see nothing but GE's in the photos when the trains span such a gap in time.   The now and then photos are always fun to see so thanks for sharing.   Great to see what the IAIS has done to improve the track quality of the line and make it better than the CRI&P could ever have imagined.  

I love time/era comparison shots like these. Well done! :^)

Lance 

I, too, love "before and after" comparisons. I must admit I connect more to the "before" version as that was when things were much more fun being track-side.

Aw, now, you can't tell me that the trio of GE's isn't the DPU's?  :-)

Seriously, in looking eastward, was this always single track, or did the muddy access road used to be either double track or at least a siding?

inrdjlg Wrote:
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> Aw, now, you can't tell me that the trio of GE's
> isn't the DPU's?  :-)
>
> Seriously, in looking eastward, was this always
> single track, or did the muddy access road used to
> be either double track or at least a siding?

It was double track until the early 1960s.

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inrdjlg Wrote:
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> Seriously, in looking eastward, was this always
> single track, or did the muddy access road used to
> be either double track or at least a siding?

Was double track as far as Iowa City in the old days, as 57a says, removed in the early '60s between West Liberty and Iowa Cty, but there are still several bridge abutments and a few other clues that it used to be there.  I wish we could read the "warning" sign but I'm guessing it says no trespassing.  When the eastbound main was removed, it was replaced with a very long (by the standards of the day) CTC siding at Iowa City, controlled by a small CTC machine in the depot at West Liberty, and a shorter siding west of the diamond at West Lib.  Double track then started east of the diamond on into the Quad Cities and beyond.

AB

santafe199 Wrote:
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> I love time/era comparison shots like these. Well
> done! :^)

I agree with Lance:}

SP8595 Wrote:
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> santafe199 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I love time/era comparison shots like these.
> Well
> > done! :^)
>
> I agree with Lance:}

Hear hear!
GK
 

Ditto!! VERY Well Done

Another her nice set of comparison shots, thanks.
—Mac

242 must have been shopped that day or the one before if they trutsed a single U28 to handle a train.

AndyBrown Wrote:
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> 3.  Turning around to face west we see the
> properly pointed pusher on BICR, 2-7-2025.
>
> 4.  And a companion view from John in 1975 again,
> of a backlit eastbound at Downey,  GEs all
> around!
>
> Thanks for looking,
>
> Andy

I remember seeing on RI main line between Iowa City and Grinnell on a trip in 1975. It was decent looking track just needing more ballast...

Of course that line didn't get alot of grain trains, unlike the main line around Muscatine, which looked like it was getting pounded into the dirt/mud.


Keith_Kevet

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