Remembering Southeast Iowa's Peavine

Rail Line - Ft Madison to Ottumwa 1871-1981

By Michael R. Johns.

Softcover, 8.5x11, 102 pages, photos throughout, drawings, charts, map.

also by this author: Quincy Route A History of the Quincy, Omaha & Kansas City RR and the Iowa & St. Louis Railway

"The "Peavine" was one of the more colorful branch line railroads to operate in Iowa. Stretching from Ottumwa to Fort Madison, it gained its nickname from the winding route it took across four southeastern counties of the Hawkeye State.

"Starting out as a community-based narrow gauge railroad in the 1880s, it was later converted to standard gauge in the hope of it becoming the Omaha gateway for the Santa Fe Railway. However, it was acquired by the Burlington Route in 1901 and served another 80 years as a "feeder" route for the CB&Q system.

"This is the story of the line's operations, the communities and shippers served, and the economic forces that led to its abandonment."