When coal was discovered in the vicinity of Eldora the problem of cheap transportation became of paramount importance. This led to the formation of the Eldora Railroad and Coal Company on February 7, 1866, to build a railway to Ackley, sixteen miles north. At Ackley the Eldora road would connect with the east-west road which is now the Illinois Central. By July, 1868, the new road was completed, but its connection with the outside world was not entirely satisfactory. It was finally decided to build twenty-eight miles south from Eldora, to tie in with the east-west main line of the Chicago & North Western at Marshalltown. A new company, the Iowa River Railway, headed by Charles C. Gilman (who was also president of the older road), took over the Eldora line on September 1, 1868. Just before completion, on September 30, 1869, to be exact, the River Railway became the Central Railroad Company of Iowa. Now it threw away its mantle as a purely local road to carry on the tradition of Morgan and Melendy and become an important north-andsouth route.
The Palimpsest Edited by W illiam J. Petersen Vol. XXXII Issued in July 1951 No. 7 Copyright 1951 by The State Historical Society of Iowa