The Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern Railway (WCF&N) was an electric

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

that operated in the US state of

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

History

The Waterloo and Cedar Falls Rapid Transit was organized in 1895 to build an 8-mile line from

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...

to nearby Cedar Falls, Iowa, which it completed in 1897. In 1904 the company renamed itself Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern Railway and began expanding outward, completing a 22-mile line from Waterloo north to Waverly in 1910 and a 60-mile line south to

Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. ...

, where connection was made with the Cedar Rapids & Iowa City interurban, in 1914. In the 1920s it operated eight passenger trains per weekday to Cedar Rapids, four to Waverly, and every half hour from Waterloo to Cedar Falls. It also operated a belt line for freight trains around Waterloo, as well as local streetcar service in Waterloo (1896-1939) and Cedar Falls (1898-1941). Passenger service to Waverly ended in 1955, to Cedar Rapids in 1956, and to Cedar Falls in 1958, making it the last interurban west of Chicago and east of California. In 1956 the railway was jointly purchased by the

Illinois Central The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...

and Rock Island railroads, who renamed it Waterloo Railroad and converted its freight operations to diesel power. Illinois Central became sole owner in 1968 and abandoned most of the Waterloo Railroad in the 1970s.

Current status

A section of former WCF&N track near Waterloo remains in use for freight service by Illinois Central's successor Canadian National. Since the 1980s most of the right-of-way between Waterloo and Cedar Rapids has been used for the Cedar Valley Nature Trail. The former depot in Center Point (on the Waterloo-Cedar Rapids line) is used as a museum and rest stop.

References

{{Reflist Defunct Iowa railroads Interurban railways in Iowa 1895 establishments in Iowa