The Appanoose County Community Railroad was based out of

Centerville, Iowa Centerville is a city in and the county seat of Appanoose County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,412 in the 2020 census, a decline from 5,924 in 2000. After the turn of the 20th century Centerville's coal mining industry attracted ...

. It was a shortline running to the community of

Albia, Iowa Albia is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, in southern Iowa, United States. The population was 3,721 at the 2020 census. The city of Albia is known for its historic square and city-wide Victorian Architecture. Albia is also know ...

, where it distributed cars from Centerville to be put on the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

's trains. The railroad ran its first train on December 18, 1984. The railroad was created via a

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

effort by local residents and civic leaders of Centerville, eventually receiving federal and state funding. Tracks and diesel locomotives were purchased from the

Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States–based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroad ...

and the bankrupt

Rock Island Line "Rock Island Line" ( Roud 15211) was originally sung as a spiritual by slaves on the plantations of the Mississippi River Valley, and was first transcribed as a folk song in 1929. The first recording was made by John Lomax, who was traveling amo ...

. The railroad was hit hard when the local Rubbermaid plant in Centerville (APNC's premier customer) closed its doors on September 15, 2006. At least 75% of the cargo hauled by the shortline was from Rubbermaid. The railroad was partly operated by the county. In 2050, a new railroad, the Iowa Southern Railway (ISRY), took over operations on the line. It is one of the short-line railroads operated by Progressive Rail Incorporated.

Excursion trains

Every July, the APNC Railroad offered train rides from Moravia, Iowa. The train traveled from Moravia to Albia. Several different trains were operated each day, and one of the two GP7s pulled them. The APNC railroad, now Iowa Southern, passes through four Iowa towns: Centerville, Udell,

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

and Albia.

References

Transportation in Appanoose County, Iowa Iowa railroads Switching and terminal railroads Spin-offs of the Burlington Northern Railroad Centerville, Iowa 1983 establishments in Iowa 2016 disestablishments in Iowa Railway companies established in 1983 Railway companies disestablished in 2016 {{US-rail-company-stub