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 St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway
The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway was a historic railroad that operated in Missouri, and Arkansas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
It ran from St. Louis, Missouri, to Texarkana, Arkansas, as well as to southeast Missouri. The line was initially established to deliver iron ore from Iron Mountain, Missouri to St. Louis. The company was frequently referred to as the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern (StLIM&S) or shortened to simply the Iron Mountain Railway.
The railroad was robbed twice, once by the James-Younger Gang on January 31, 1874, at Gad's Hill, Missouri, and once by the Dalton Gang on November 3, 1893, at Olyphant, Arkansas.
In 1883 the StLIM&S was acquired by Jay Gould, becoming part of a 9,547 miles (15,364 km) system. On May 12, 1917, it was formally merged into the Missouri Pacific Railroad, which in turn was merged into the Union Pacific Railroad in 1982.
The railroad is famous for giving its name to the Iron Mountain Baby, and the railroad is reported to have paid for the child's education.
The name has been resurrected by a modern short line railroad based in Jackson, Missouri. The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway operates a heritage railroad in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri.
Cache is placed on Railroad Right of way with explicit permission of
the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway board of directors.