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 the Iron Mountain baby
On August 14, 1902, William Helms (June 5, 1835 – December 13, 1917), a 72-year old farmer and civil war veteran, was walking along the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (later the Missouri Pacific Railroad) where it crosses Big River outside of Irondale (Washington County, Missouri), collecting lumber for a barn he intended to build. He saw No. 4 speed northbound over the bridge. Then, hearing a strange noise and following its source, he found what is described as "an old fashioned telescoping valise." The case turned out to contain a baby, whose age was later estimated at approximately five days. Having fallen about 50 feet (15 m), the child was badly bruised, with a pronounced dent in its head. Helms took the child home to his wife, Sarah Jane Knight Helms (July 10, 1850 – April 15, 1925) and they nursed him back to health.
The child was named for his foster father, Bill Helms, and "Gould," the owner of the railroad, but also "Moses," because he was taken from the river. The story spread throughout the United States, and gave rise to the folksong. Many women came forward, claiming to be the boy's mother. However, when the child was six years old, the elderly couple formally adopted him.
After the death of the elder Helms, William and his mother moved to Salem, Missouri. He attended Braughton's University and Southwest Missouri State Teachers College (now Missouri State University); his education was paid for by the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway. He became a printer. On August 5, 1933 he married a woman named "Sally," (September 17, 1904, d. Racine, Wisconsin, September 1987). They had one son, William (died at age 14, according to some sources).
They later moved to Texas, where William died January 31, 1953, aged 51.
When the corpse was carried by train back to Washington County, it was only the second time William had ridden a train.
He was interred at Hopewell, Missouri Cemetery. The funeral got no publicity; Helms did not enjoy his peculiar fame.
-