Places of Interest

The old depot in Akron, Iowa is still standing next to the tracks now used by the Dakota and Iowa Railroad. Tim Philps is the owner. Tim owns Akron Lumber. His wife teaches ballet so they use part of the depot for a dance studio. The Dakota and Iowa railroad is getting more business from the ethonal industry. They ship 40 tank cars several times a month from the new plant in Hudson, South Dakota. Another ethonal plant and a bio-diesel plant is being build in Akron. Currently the railroad mostly carries rock and grain on the line. The railroad recently announced plans to spend 18 million dollars to up grade the line from Elk Point, South Dakota to Canton, South Dakota. They average two trains a day. The line runs from Del Rapids, South Dakota to Sioux City,Iowa. The state of South Dakota bought the line and the Miwaukee Road bankrupcy so grain could be shipped from the south east part of the state. They are in the process of selling the line to BNSF. The line is operated by the Dakota & Iowa Railroad which is owned by the L.G. Everest company. L.G. Everest is in the rock and gravel business. I have several pictures of trains including some BNSF trains that temporarily used the line two or three years ago. I have access to some old pictues of the depot if anyone is interested. You can reach me at robertgrantbrown@hotmail.com