Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad: Roster, Map, History

Last revised: October 21, 2026

The Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad Corporation was the Class II railroad that took the I&M Rail Link in the summer of 2002. Reporting mark ICE. On the herald, and on the flank of the locomotives, it was the IC&E. The company was a subsidiary of Cedar American Rail Holdings, Inc., and Cedar American was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation. The Surface Transportation Board notice describes about 1,125 miles of rail line, between Chicago, Kansas City, and Minneapolis/St. Paul, across northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, and about 275 miles of incidental trackage rights. Operations began at 12:01 a.m. on July 30, 2002. Canadian Pacific took control on October 30, 2008.

The company told the Board, in a letter filed that August, that it had become a Class II railroad. Common control was a later step. In Finance Docket No. 34178, control through Cedar American, by dissolution of a voting trust, is effective March 5, 2003. When the west end of the parent railroad passed to the Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern in 2014, these lines stayed with Canadian Pacific.

Iowa, Chicago and Eastern SD40-2 No. 6420 leading two more SD40-2s on a grain train at Tracy, Minnesota, on July 17, 2008

Iowa, Chicago & Eastern SD40-2 No. 6420 and two more SD40-2s, with a grain train at Tracy, Minnesota, on the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern, July 17, 2008. The nose carries the mark ICE. Doug Kroll photo.

On this page: The I&M Rail Link · The 2002 purchase · Cedar American · At a glance · System map · Locomotives · Canadian Pacific

The I&M Rail Link

The lines were former Milwaukee Road track across Iowa and southern Minnesota, in the hands of the Soo Line after the Milwaukee Road’s absorption, and then sold onward. The Soo Line was a Canadian Pacific subsidiary. An August 20, 2002, account of the later sale says the I&M Rail Link LLC was formed in 1997 to acquire certain lines and assets of Soo Line Railroad Corporation. The Surface Transportation Board’s Finance Docket No. 33326 is the authority for that startup. The decision is dated April 2, 1997. The exemption was effective April 4. Operations began at 12:01 p.m. on April 5, 1997. Canadian Pacific held 33 percent. The Washington Companies held 67 percent. The headquarters was Davenport, Iowa.

In the June 2002 notice the I&M Rail Link is still a Class II carrier, and it is the seller. The Iowa, Chicago & Eastern bought the rail lines and the related assets. The Davenport, Rock Island and Northwestern is the older terminal railroad at the Quad Cities, a different company, already merged into the Soo Line in 1995. The I&M kept its own offices in Davenport, and the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern kept operating offices in the same Quad Cities.

The 2002 purchase

On June 7, 2002, the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad Corporation filed a notice of exemption in Surface Transportation Board Finance Docket No. 34177, under 49 CFR 1150.31. The company was then a noncarrier. The notice, decided June 11 and published in the Federal Register on June 17, covers five groups of property. The first is the I&M Rail Link’s existing rail lines, approximately 1,125 miles, between Chicago, Illinois, Kansas City, Missouri, and Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, and across northern Iowa and southern Minnesota. The second is approximately 275 miles of incidental trackage rights over other carriers. The third is the I&M’s ownership and operating interest in the Kansas City Terminal Railway Company. The fourth is its interest in the Joint Agency at Kansas City, owned jointly with The Kansas City Southern Railway Company. The fifth is interests in industry trackage at South Beloit, Illinois, Beloit and Janesville, Wisconsin, and Clinton, Iowa. The terminal interest, the Joint Agency, and the industry tracks sit with the 1,125 miles as separate holdings. The 275 miles are trackage rights, stated on their own line in the notice.

Because the projected revenues exceeded $5 million, the company certified on February 26, 2002, that the required labor notice had been posted at I&M workplaces and served on the national offices of the unions with employees on the lines on February 25. The notice said the company intended to consummate on or after June 28, 2002, the date a class exemption would become effective if nothing stayed it. Iowa shippers, the Iowa Department of Transportation, the city of Dubuque, grain interests, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers filed concerns about viability, service, and labor. The company told the Board, from its talks with the I&M’s lenders, that the I&M would most likely face bankruptcy if the sale were not completed. That is the company’s statement in the case. The Board’s later decision, on January 17, 2003, denied the petitions to revoke the exemption.

June 28, 2002, was the unstayed effective date of the class exemption. A housekeeping stay, Surface Transportation Board release No. 02-23 of June 26, 2002, held the exemption. The company had replied on June 24 that it would not consummate before 5:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time on July 26, 2002, so the parties could finish the question of access in the Chicago terminals. On July 22, 2002, Chairman Linda J. Morgan announced that the Board had denied stay requests from certain labor organizations and from the Iowa Department of Transportation, and had lifted the housekeeping stay. The exemption was effective that day. The asset-purchase agreement required consummation by the end of July. The same decision required the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern to be operated independently until the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern obtained authority to control it, and it kept the new railroad off traffic moving to or from any future Powder River coal line until an environmental inquiry matched to that traffic. The coal project is on the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern page.

The company’s own letter, filed with the Board on August 7, 2002, says the acquisition of the I&M Rail Link’s rail assets was consummated on July 29, 2002, and that rail operations commenced on July 30. The Austin Daily Herald of July 30, under the headline “Sold!,” reported that the purchase was finalized at 12:01 a.m. that morning. Lynn Anderson, vice president of marketing for the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern, said operations would go on pretty much as they were, that the vast majority of the employees were former I&M employees, and that the parent wanted more rail business on the IC&E. Mark Corkill, of the section crew at the Austin office, said the employees had a fax that morning and did not yet know the plans. The same day’s Post Bulletin, in Rochester, quoted Kevin V. Schieffer, the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern’s president and chief executive. He said he was excited about the acquisition and about the opportunities and the challenges for both railroads. The terms were not announced.

Cedar American

Both railroads continued under their own names, under the common management of Cedar American Rail Holdings, Inc. A FreightWaves account of August 20, 2002, says a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern, Cedar American, held 100 percent of the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern’s stock. Marie Ali, speaking for Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, the financial advisor, said the terms were complex because the financing and the regulatory work had been a long process, begun in 2000. The financing was a senior credit facility, subordinated notes, and redeemable preferred stock. As part of negotiations that concluded on July 26, the account says, the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern would operate in five states: Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin. The Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern would operate in South Dakota and Minnesota, with extensions into Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa. July 26 is the date the company had given the Board as the earliest hour it would close, 5:00 p.m. that afternoon. It is the negotiation date in this account. The operating morning is July 30.

In that July 30 Post Bulletin account, the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern’s operating headquarters was Davenport, and the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern was described, at that moment, as a Brookings railroad. Schieffer said that within the coming months Cedar American would finish rebuilding a headquarters in Sioux Falls, seek the further regulatory approval needed to complete the integration, and work to expand the connections. The August 20 account puts the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern’s operational offices in the Quad Cities: Moline, Rock Island, Davenport, and Bettendorf. The parent’s base in 2008, while the shares were still in trust, was Sioux Falls. That later base is on the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern page.

Iowa, Chicago and Eastern herald, blue IC&E letters between yellow bars

The Iowa, Chicago & Eastern herald. Blue IC&E letters, two yellow bars, and the railroad’s name underneath.

Control followed the purchase by several months. The June 17 notice said the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern and Cedar American expected to file for authority to continue in control once the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern became a carrier. That application is Finance Docket No. 34178, filed about August 29, 2002. The Board found that the control would not substantially lessen competition, create a monopoly, or restrain trade. The decision is effective March 5, 2003, and the control runs by dissolution of a voting trust. Until that day the July 22 decision’s independence condition was the rule. A companion notice, Finance Docket No. 34178 (Sub-No. 2), covered contingent overhead trackage rights: about 72.4 miles on the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern between Owatonna, Minnesota, and Mason City, Iowa, and about 8.8 miles on the Iowa Northern between Plymouth Junction and Nora Springs. Vice Chairman Burkes voted for the control and said he was concerned that the issues at Owatonna could delay the benefits.

At a glance

Item	Detail
Legal name	Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad Corporation
Reporting mark	ICE. The herald reads IC&E. The nose of SD40-2 6420 carries ICE
Class	Class II, as the company described itself in the August 7, 2002 letter, and as Finance Docket 35088 still describes it in 2007
Parent	Cedar American Rail Holdings, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation. Cedar American held 100 percent of the stock
Offices	Operating headquarters in Davenport, in the July 30, 2002 account. Operational offices in the Quad Cities. Cedar American was finishing a headquarters in Sioux Falls. The parent’s 2008 base was Sioux Falls
Predecessor	I&M Rail Link, LLC, a Class II in the June 2002 notice. Formed in 1997 for certain Soo Line lines. Operations from 12:01 p.m. on April 5, 1997. Canadian Pacific 33 percent. Washington Companies 67 percent. Headquarters Davenport
Notice	Finance Docket 34177, filed June 7, 2002, decided June 11, published June 17. About 1,125 miles of line. About 275 miles of trackage rights. Kansas City Terminal Railway. Joint Agency with Kansas City Southern. Industry trackage at South Beloit, Beloit, Janesville, and Clinton
States	Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin, in the August 20, 2002 account of the July 26 negotiations. Kansas City is named as Missouri
Assets and operations	The August 7, 2002 letter: assets consummated July 29, 2002, operations commenced July 30. The Austin Daily Herald of July 30: finalized at 12:01 a.m. that morning
Control	Finance Docket 34178, application about August 29, 2002. Effective March 5, 2003, by dissolution of a voting trust. Until that day the July 22, 2002 decision required independent operation
East Moline	Finance Docket 35088. Exemption effective December 28, 2007, for about 18.5 miles of BNSF line, milepost 1.74 near East Moline, Illinois, to milepost 20.31 at Ceffco, near Albany
Canadian Pacific	Announced September 4, 2007. Shares acquired in trust on October 4, 2007. Approved September 30, 2008, Finance Docket 35081. Control effective October 30, 2008, the last day of operation as itself
Locomotives	SD40-2s 6420, 6439, and 6416, the three locomotives identified in the photographs, in this railroad’s blue and yellow. Published lists for the mark ICE repeat builder numbers

System map

System map of the two railroads. Blue is the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern, from Austin and Mason City to the Mississippi at Marquette and Sabula, then to Chicago by way of Janesville and Rockford, and south through Davenport and Ottumwa to Kansas City. Black is the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern, from Minnesota City through Mankato, Huron, Pierre, and Rapid City to Colony, with the line down to Crawford and Chadron. The dotted spur toward Aberdeen is marked as BNSF trackage rights. The arrow west of Crawford is marked Powder River Basin Project, never built. © American-Rails.com.

The blue railroad is this company. The notice’s geography is Chicago, Kansas City, and Minneapolis/St. Paul, across northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, and the August 20 account adds Wisconsin to the operating states. Janesville and Beloit are the Wisconsin names in the notice’s industry-trackage clause, and Janesville is on the blue line toward Chicago. Sabula and Marquette are the Mississippi crossings. Davenport and Ottumwa are on the line south to Kansas City, which the notice places in Missouri. The black railroad is the parent, and the east end of that black line is lettered at Minnesota City. The drawing is a map of the two systems. The miles in the June 17 notice, about 1,125 of line and about 275 of trackage rights, are the mileage figures for this railroad.

One later piece of authority is separate from those figures. On November 28, 2007, in Finance Docket No. 35088, the Board exempted the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern, which it described as a Class II carrier, to acquire about 18.5 miles of BNSF line from a connection at milepost 1.74 near East Moline, Illinois, to the end of the track at milepost 20.31 at Ceffco, near Albany, Illinois. The exemption was effective December 28, 2007. The 18.5 miles are that docket’s line, kept as their own figure beside the 1,125 miles in the 2002 notice.

Locomotives

The Iowa, Chicago & Eastern was a diesel railroad from its first morning. The road freight power in the photographs is Electro-Motive SD40-2s, painted in the herald’s blue and yellow, with the railroad’s name on the flank and ICE on the nose. No. 6420 has the grain train at Tracy on July 17, 2008. Lynn Anderson’s account of the startup, in Austin on July 30, 2002, was that the work would continue with the people already on the property.

The photographs identify three of the railroad’s SD40-2s: 6420 at Tracy, and 6439 and 6416 near Wasta. Those three are the locomotives this page can name from the pictures. Published lists that try to name the rest of the fleet repeat a builder number from one road number onto the next.

Canadian Pacific

On September 4, 2007, Canadian Pacific announced that it would buy the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern, including the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern. The coverage put the cash price at $1.48 billion, with a further contingency The Independent described as up to $1 billion. The shares went into a voting trust. Canadian Pacific’s 2008 financial statements date that acquisition October 4, 2007, allocate a purchase price of $1.5 billion, including goodwill of $180 million, and say contingent payments of up to about $1.05 billion, plus interest and inflationary adjustments, could become payable through December 31, 2025. The full split of those figures is on the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern page.

The Surface Transportation Board approved the control on September 30, 2008, in Finance Docket No. 35081. The applicants were Canadian Pacific Railway Corporation and Soo Line Holding Company. The railroads were the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern and its wholly owned subsidiary, the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern. Control was effective October 30, 2008. That was the last day the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern operated as itself. From the next accounting period, Canadian Pacific consolidated the companies. On December 3, 2012, Canadian Pacific deferred the Powder River option it described as 260 miles. On May 30, 2014, the Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern took the west end, and Canadian Pacific kept the east end and these lines.

Iowa, Chicago and Eastern SD40-2 No. 6439, with No. 6416 behind it, near Wasta, South Dakota, on July 16, 2009

Iowa, Chicago & Eastern SD40-2 No. 6439, with No. 6416 behind it, near Wasta, South Dakota, on July 16, 2009. Doug Kroll recorded the train as No. 471, three SD40-2s and an SD40-3. Wasta is on the former Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern. Canadian Pacific had controlled both railroads since October 30, 2008. Doug Kroll photo.

Sources

Federal Register, June 17, 2002, 67 FR 41297–41298, FR Doc. 02-15202. Surface Transportation Board Finance Docket No. 34177, Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad Corporation—Acquisition and Operation Exemption—Lines of I&M Rail Link, LLC. Notice filed June 7, 2002. Decided June 11, 2002, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of Proceedings. Vernon A. Williams, Secretary. About 1,125 miles of line and about 275 miles of incidental trackage rights. Kansas City Terminal Railway. Joint Agency with The Kansas City Southern Railway Company. Industry trackage at South Beloit, Beloit, Janesville, and Clinton. Footnote 1: a noncarrier subsidiary of Cedar American Rail Holdings, Inc., itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation. Labor certification of February 26, 2002, for notice posted and served February 25. Intended consummation on or after June 28, 2002. Official PDF: govinfo.gov, 02-15202.
Surface Transportation Board release No. 02-23, June 26, 2002, housekeeping stay. The company’s June 24 reply: it would not consummate before 5:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time on July 26, 2002. Release No. 02-27, July 22, 2002, Chairman Linda J. Morgan. Stay requests denied. Exemption effective that day. Consummation required by the end of July under the asset-purchase agreement. Independent operation until control authority. Powder River traffic reserved for a later environmental inquiry.
Surface Transportation Board, Finance Docket No. 34177, reported at 6 S.T.B., decided January 17, 2003. Petitions to revoke denied. The company’s letter filed August 7, 2002: assets consummated July 29, 2002, operations commenced July 30, 2002, and the railroad was then a Class II.
Austin Daily Herald, July 30, 2002, “Sold!” Purchase finalized at 12:01 a.m. that morning. Lynn Anderson, vice president of marketing, Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern. Mark Corkill, Austin section crew.
Post Bulletin (Rochester), July 30, 2002. Kevin V. Schieffer on the acquisition. Operating headquarters of the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern in Davenport. Cedar American to finish a headquarters in Sioux Falls. The Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern described, in that account, as a Brookings railroad. Terms not announced.
FreightWaves, August 20, 2002. Cedar American holds 100 percent of the stock. Both railroads continue under their own names, under common management of the holding company. Five states: Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Operational offices in the Quad Cities. Financing: senior credit facility, subordinated notes, and redeemable preferred stock. Marie Ali, Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, on a process begun in 2000. Negotiations concluded July 26. I&M Rail Link LLC formed in 1997 to acquire certain lines and assets of Soo Line Railroad Corporation.
Surface Transportation Board, Finance Docket No. 33326. I&M Rail Link authority. Decision April 2, 1997. Exemption effective April 4, 1997. Operations at 12:01 p.m. on April 5, 1997. Canadian Pacific 33 percent. Washington Companies 67 percent. Headquarters Davenport.
Surface Transportation Board, Finance Docket No. 34178, reported at 6 S.T.B. Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation and Cedar American Rail Holdings, Inc., control of Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad Corporation, by dissolution of a voting trust. Application filed about August 29, 2002. Decision effective March 5, 2003. Sub-No. 2: about 72.4 miles, Owatonna to Mason City, and about 8.8 miles on the Iowa Northern, Plymouth Junction to Nora Springs.
Federal Register, December 4, 2007, 72 FR 68232, FR Doc. E7-23465. Finance Docket No. 35088, decided November 28, 2007. Exemption effective December 28, 2007, for about 18.5 miles, milepost 1.74 near East Moline, Illinois, to milepost 20.31 at Ceffco, near Albany. The notice calls the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern a Class II rail carrier.
The Independent, September 5, 2007, and the Canadian Pacific announcement of September 4, 2007. Cash price stated as $1.48 billion, with a contingency described as up to $1 billion. Canadian Pacific 2008 financial statements: shares acquired October 4, 2007. Purchase-price allocation of $1.5 billion, including goodwill of $180 million. Contingent payments of up to about $1.05 billion through December 31, 2025.
Surface Transportation Board press release No. 08-30, September 30, 2008. Finance Docket No. 35081, Canadian Pacific Railway Company et al.—Control—Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corp. et al. Applicants Canadian Pacific Railway Corporation and Soo Line Holding Company. Control of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern and the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern. Effective October 30, 2008.
Canadian Pacific, December 3, 2012. Deferral of the option described as 260 miles. Genesee & Wyoming, May 30, 2014. The west end passed to the Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern. Canadian Pacific kept the east end and the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern lines. The Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern page carries those transactions in full.
Doug Kroll photographs on this page. July 17, 2008, at Tracy, Minnesota: SD40-2 6420 and two more SD40-2s. July 16, 2009, near Wasta, South Dakota: SD40-2s 6439 and 6416, recorded by the photographer as train 471 with three SD40-2s and an SD40-3. Published all-time lists for the mark ICE repeat builder numbers from one road number to another. No unit table is printed from those lists.

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