The Iron Mountain Trailway is a series of 47 geocaches places along the railbed of the historic St Louis Iron Mountain Railroad Jackson - Gordonville - Delta line. This railroad served freight traffic between Jackson Missouri and Delta Missouri, originally built by the Jackson Branch Railroad Company.
The original line was meant to connect with the Belmont Branch at Allenville and travel through Jackson into Perry County and a ferry connection along the Mississippi River. When the line reached as far as Jackson from Allenville in 1885, construction stopped, and railroad freight service commenced. The JBRR was soon absorbed into the Saint Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad, which itself was merged into the Missouri Pacific years later.
The MP first submitted the line up for abandonment in 1932 and now, in 2015 all but the northernmost 7 miles of the railway have been abandoned and the land reverted to the descendants of the original owners.
Beginning in Gordonville at a park that is actually railroad property that once served as a station for the line, the first six miles of the remaining track wind through pastures and fields, flirting occasionally with Hubble Creek.
the last, most northern mile, cuts into the heart of the comparatively urban Jackson, Missouri, crossing the intersection of Highway 25 and highway 71 diagonally and entering the St. Louis Iron Mountain Railroad Company yard.
::CAUTION::
This Railroad is semi-active. A real live actual train runs on these tracks on Saturdays from April through December. The train may also run on other days during these months at irregular times when it is charted for a private event.
The train moves very slowly, reaching a maximum speed of six miles per hour and it is very loud. If you are paying attention you will have no problem hearing and seeing the train coming and getting off the track and out of the way.
If that still seems too dangerous to you, keep in mind that the train does not run at all from January through March and you would be able to get these caches during those months without worry about the train coming down the track.
As with anything else, your activities are at your own best judgement. If this kind of caching causes you concern, I want to urge you to seek other caches. There are lots of them out there.
About Phineas Davis
Phineas Davis (January 27, 1792 - September 27, 1835) was a well-known clockmaker and inventor who designed and built the first practical American coal-burning railroad locomotive.
On August 28, 1830, New York inventor Peter Cooper had publicly demonstrated his diminutive locomotive, later known as Tom Thumb. It successfully hauled 15 short tons (14,000 kg) at 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h), and without a load reached speeds in excess of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h).
The fledgling Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) was impressed with Cooper’s early success, but instead of immediately offering him their business for locomotives, the company planned an open competition with a prize of $4,000. Five prototype locomotives were entered into the contest in early 1831, although Cooper did not participate. Phineas Davis’s design, York, was chosen as the winner.
It was a four-wheeled, vertical boiler locomotive that was somewhat similar to Cooper's design, but featured two vertical cylinders that drove vertical main rods. These in turn connected to horizontal side rods that powered the wheels. The first locomotive to burn coal, York was also the first with coupled wheels and a double instead of a single pair of drivers. It weighed 3.5 short tons (3,200 kg) and attained velocity by gearing, using a spur wheel and pinion on one of the axles of the wheels.
Davis’ upright “cheese boiler” consisted of a water jacket surrounding a central furnace, and a shallow drum suspended above the grates. The drum, when viewed through the fire door, was thought to resemble a cheese, thus giving the entire assembly its name.