The Iowa Traction Railway Company, formerly the Iowa Traction Railroad Company, is an electrically operated common carrierrailroad running between Mason City and Clear Lake, Iowa, United States, and also serving Rorick Park near Mason City. It can trace its roots back to the Mason City and Clear Lake Railway, which was founded in 1896. The shops were situated in Emery, the midpoint between the two namesake towns. Passenger service began on July 4, 1897. Freight has been the major source of income since the beginning and has been the only source since the charter for trolley service in Mason City expired August 30, 1936. The company replaced its passenger service with a bus service between Mason City and Clear Lake in January 1937. That service continued until September 1959. William E. Brice, local utility magnate and a founder of the railroad, sold his interests to United Light & Railway Company in 1913. The successor of United Light & Railway was liquidated in 1950, and the railroad was sold to a utility executive at that time. The Mason City & Clear Lake Railroad was chartered as part of that transaction. The name was changed to Iowa Terminal Railroad in December 1960 when General Motors executive and railroad enthusiast Harold C. Boyer of Detroit, Michigan acquired the company. Boyer acquired the Charles City Western, a freight interurban operating between Charles City and a connection with the Rock Island at Marble Rock, on December 31, 1963. Plans to construct a connection between the two divisions were underway when Boyer died in May 1965 and were not pursued further. Meanwhile, the Mason City Division continued to operate as usual. Failure of several locomotives in the early 1960s led to acquisition of three locomotives from the recently abandoned Kansas City & Kaw Valley interurban in 1963. Also in 1963 the Iowa Terminal ceased service between Emery and Clear Lake, although the track remains in place. Two disasters in 1967 and 1968 shaped the future of the Iowa Terminal. First, a fire originating in a neighboring lumberyard on Thanksgiving Day in November 1967 destroyed the carbarn at Emery along with several pieces of rolling stock, the railroad's primary rotary converter, and a large supply of tools and spare parts. Key parts of the system remained intact, however, and electric service resumed about a week later. Then a tornado struck Charles City in May, 1968, destroying much of the downtown and severely damaging the Iowa Terminal's overhead wire there. Diesel power was already used to serve the White Farm Equipment tractor plant, which did not allow electrified service inside its foundry, so the company decided to dieselize the Charles City Division rather than repair the overhead wire and to transfer the Charles City Division equipment to Mason City. A new building housing the shop and company headquarters was constructed at Emery during the summer of 1968. Several years later the remaining trackage at Charles City was abandoned. Iowa Terminal faced challenges in the 1970s and 1980s from fluctuating traffic patterns, diversion by some customers of traffic from rail to truck, consolidations and bankruptcies involving all of its connecting railroads, and the 1980s farm crisis, all of which impacted traffic volume and interchange possibilities. Flexibility provided by the 1980 Staggers Rail Act allowed for smaller crew sizes and other changes that helped keep the company viable and competitive. Iowa Terminal acquired 75 freight cars in 1980, and more in 1982, in order to meet the needs of online shippers when connecting railroads were consistently unable to supply cars when needed. On April 13, 1987, the Iowa Terminal Railroad was sold to Dave Johnson and renamed Iowa Traction Railroad. Today, the Iowa Traction continues to actively operate the track between its Emery headquarters and the Clear Lake Junction with Union Pacific Railroad. Though track exists beyond Emery to Interstate 35 in the west and from Clear Lake Junction to 15th Street Southeast in Mason City to the east, the active portion is Emery to Clear Lake Junction.
The Iowa Traction Railroad was purchased in fall 2012 by Progressive Rail, a shortline holding company based in Lakeville, Minnesota. Upon purchase, the line has been renamed Iowa Traction Railway. According to Progressive's President Dave Fellon, "It's right in our wheel house fits our model. It's a great little railroad." Comments by Progressive Rail officials in Trains Magazine indicate that the company plans to continue use of electric locomotives, possibly supplementing them with diesel, and that it is exploring the reopening of the line from Emery to Clear Lake.
