Sunset Cluster: A Shortline Railroad Saga

Discover the Sunset Cluster—railroads that were doomed to fail?

The first two decades of the 20th century were the twilight of the Railroad Age. Major routes had long been established, and local service became the focus of new construction. Beginning in 1907, a cluster of five shortline railroads were established in otherwise unconnected parts of Iowa. They, however, would short lived.

The five Iowa 'sunset cluster' railroads might appear to deserve eternal obscurity, being at best minor fo...