The line was continued north by the Toledo & Northwestern Railway in late 1879, and was completed to
Blue Earth, Minnesota by 1883. It was a standard gauge line. The entire line came into the Chicago North Western Railway system by 1884.
The C&NW owned a large amount of track around Iowa at the time.
The line was a critical C&NW route to connect to the Twin Cities.
Starting from Des Moines, the line would start in downtown, and head north towards Ankeny.
The line would cross the east/west Milwaukee Road mainline at Slater, It would go through Kelley, crossing the Fort Dodge, Des Moines & Southern before arriving in Ames.
In Ames, it would cross Squaw Creek, and the busy C&NW east/west mainline.
Near Story City, it had to cross a high trestle over Keigly Creek, which was later filled and replaced with a stone bridge.
The line continued through Randall, crossed an east/west C&NW branch line in Jewell, and came into Webster City after crossing the Boone River.
In Webster City, it crossed the Illinois Central line again, and left town crossing the Boone River again.
Continuing north, the route went through Woolstock, and in Eagle Grove crossed a Chicago Great Western Line, and had a CNW line towards Humboldt break off.
It crossed another CGW line in Goldfield, and continued through Renwick and Lu Verne.
At Algona, it crossed over another Milwaukee Road main, and continued through Burt and Bancroft before crossing a Rock Island line near Lakota.
It crossed into Minnesota at Elmore, and joined with another CNW line at Blue Earth.
Several sections were abandoned over time. This included:
Ledyard to Blue Earth in 1968, Ledyard to Bancroft in 1978, Burt to Bancroft in 1985, and Ankeny to Ames in 1985.
The C&NW merged into Union Pacific in 1995. Since this merger, the Ankeny to Des Moines route has been abandoned and will be reused a trail.
The remaining segment, from Burt to Ames is known as the Jewell Subdivision.
06/26/21
Located in Algona, this large Quadrangular Through Truss bridge crosses the Canadian Pacific branch line.
Originally built in 1917 to cross the Milwaukee Road, this bridge features a single Quadrangular Through Truss, set onto concrete abutments.
The quadrangular truss was a favorite of the C&NW, particularly due to the durability and versatility of the structure.
Currently, the bridge is owned by Union Pacific, and is still operated. Overall, it remains in good condition, with little major deterioration.
The author has ranked the bridge as moderately significant, due to the truss design.
The photo above is looking north across the bridge.