A Real, Live Railroad

The 40-Year Saga of the Ill-fated Yankton-Norfolk Line

This is the second in a series (The Border Tier Route was the first) of inexpensive monograph booklets from South Platte Press that cover some of the lesser-known subjects of Great Plains railroad history. A Real, Live Railroad is a detailed human interest account of one of the more intriguing and mysterious efforts to build a railroad between two major Midwest cities. For more than 40 years (1887-1929), many different dreamers, schemers and serious industrialists attempted to construct a rail line between the trade centers of Yankton, S.D., and Norfolk, Neb. These efforts all failed despite the construction of both the roadbed and a major bridge across the Missouri River! A must read for the railroad archeologist and historian, with text, maps and photos.