Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE, AND ST. PAUL RAILROAD
CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE, and ST. PAUL RAILROAD. Part of the Canadian Pacific and formerly the Soo Line. Milwaukee tracks in Dubuque County hug the shore of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER from the northern corner of Jefferson Township near Waupeton to the southern corner of Mosalem Township.
Many of the county's most colorful legends have developed around these tracks. A widely believed story stated that during PROHIBITION trains made unscheduled ten minutes stops at such places as Cameron Siding, Ashby's Ferry, Finley's Landing, or Specht's Ferry. Such remote areas would have made excellent supply points for enterprising bootleggers.
During more than one hundred years, there were several spectacular wrecks including a serious accident near EAGLE POINT on September 19, 1887. Two trains, both running late, collided head-on at a sharp curve near the present ZEBULON PIKE LOCK AND DAM. Five people were killed, including both engineers and firemen, and scores were injured. This was the worst train wreck in Dubuque County history. Another historic event occurred on October 10, 1936, when the new "Hiawatha" passenger train stopped at the Milwaukee depot on its way between Marquette, Iowa and Elgin, Illinois.
The depot was demolished in 1965.
See: SHAWONDASEE
