CP train No. 473 heads south through downtown Davenport along the newly raised main line. The swollen Mississippi River lies behind, its traditional bank is beyond the tree line above the train.
Chris Guss
DAVENPORT, Iowa – Canadian Pacific has reopened its main line through Davenport this week after being closed for almost a week and a half due to Mississippi River flooding.
Spokesman Andy Cummings tells Trains News Wire, “following rigorous safety checks, CP resumed operations through Davenport on May 7. Due to high water conditions, that stretch of track had been closed since April 29.”
The closure occurred when a temporary levee in downtown Davenport breached, sending flood waters into downtown and over the Davenport Subdivision, part of CP’s route from Savanna, Ill., to Kansas City, Mo. Several days after the levee breach, the Mississippi crested in the Quad Cities at 22.7 feet on May 2, breaking the all-time level of 22.6 feet previously set during the floods of summer 1993.
In the past several weeks, CP has operated trains though downtown when the water levels were low enough or by detouring traffic between Savanna and Davenport via BNSF Railway and Iowa Interstate.
Following the river’s crest, the river has slowly been receding and is down about 3 feet, enabling maintenance-of-way crews to continue their work to reopen and raise the main line. The railroad is working to raise the mainline enough to allow for operations to continue up to the 21-foot level as measured on the nearby Rock Island, Ill., flood gauge. Work on this project began March 28 and is ongoing.
