CB&Q's Iowa and Saint Louis Railroad

Google API

Iowa and Saint Louis Railway (I&StL) was incorporated in Missouri on May 18, 1901 and in Iowa on April 2, 1902. It built north from Omaha, Kansas City & Eastern Railroad from Novinger, MO and south from Sedan (Centerville), IA, until the segments met in 1903. It also built south of Novinger to Elmer (Mercyville) in 1903. CB&Q leased it September 1, 1903, before it was completed November 28, 1903. It was sold to CB&Q December 1, 1903. [CorporateHistory, pp. 310-311] Another source says the I&StL merged into CB&Q in 1905. [BNSF Segments, Segment 1622] It was abandoned in 1936 except for the segment from Novinger south to South Gifford, which was abandoned in 1942. [BNSF Segments]

Unfortunately, Google broke their API soon after I used it. I'm not willing to learn how to fix it because I'm afraid they will just break it again. So I looked for some CB&Q maps. Some were too old and this branch did not yet exist. The others were too new and the branch was already gone. I did find a 1940 map that still had the segment between Novinger and South Gifford.

William A. Shaffer posted

Then I tried topo maps. The large scale maps were too new to still have it. The small scale maps were too tedious to follow the route. But I include the following excerpt to confirm the branch did go through Novinger.

1913 Queen City and 1938 Kirksville Quads @ 62,500

I learned of the existence of this railroad from this Facebook posting of an abandoned depot in South Gifford, MO. 

D.W. Cole posted on Facebook

I also learned that there were coal mining areas in North Central Missouri. Coal dominated the traffic on the line, so when the underground mines became too expensive to operate because of water inflow and thin seams, the railroad became a victim of highways and the depression. [Wikipedia]

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous provided the correct location of this depot.

Abandoned Railroads