Guest
In October 2020, I spent a few days based out of Mason City, IA shooting fall colors. I had planned to spend a day on the Iowa Traction Railway, but a change of plans gave me an extra morning to do some scouting and see how things were moving. Because it was cloudy, it also gave me the chance to shoot some angles that aren’t normally possible because they’d be looking into the sun. The Iowa Traction is the last operating interurban electric railroad in the US. It was placed into service in 1897, and still operates today using a fleet of Baldwin freight motors built between 1917 and 1923. The main portion of the line today is approximately 3.5 miles between Mason City and the shops in Emery, IA. The railroad keeps busy serving several customers, and interchanges to both CP and UP in Mason City. Primary action for the day was provided by Baldwin class B motors 50 and 51, built in 1920 and 1921 respectively.
