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 Timothy Blackstone
Timothy Beach Blackstone (March 28, 1829 – May 26, 1900) was a 19th-century railroad executive, businessman, philanthropist, and politician. He is descended from one of the earliest British settlers of New England, William Blaxton. Blackstone worked in the railroad industry for most of his life after dropping out of school. At the time of his death, his estate was worth US$6 million ($170.1 million today).
Blackstone served as president of the Chicago and Alton Railroad from 1864 through 1899, was a founding president of the Union Stock Yards, and served one term as mayor of La Salle, Illinois. An active philanthropist, Blackstone was the benefactor of the James Blackstone Memorial Library in Branford, Connecticut. A nearly identical library, Blackstone Memorial Library, was donated to the Chicago Public Library by Timothy Blackstone's widow in 1902. The Blackstones also funded Blackstone Hall for the Art Institute of Chicago Building. Chicago's Blackstone Library is the first dedicated branch of the Chicago Public Library system, and later his mansion became the site of the Blackstone Hotel and the Blackstone Theatre.