First and Foremost, a Railroad Town
Walnut was formed as a railroad stop on the CRIP mainline in 1869. For generations, the sound of the train whistle was second-nature to our citizens. In 1953, the Rock Island decided to bypass Marne, Walnut and Avoca with a new mainline, and this had a tremendous effect on our town. Until 1966 when train service was discontinued entirely, we had a line from Walnut to Avoca/Hancock/Harlan. Since 1966, the train whistle is only a memory in Walnut.
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 1900 depot |  1915 train west of depot |  1900 train arrives |
|---|---|---|
 1904 4th of July depot crowd |  1920 depot |  1925 depot from the south |
 Building the Viaduct |  New Viaduct |  1948 Friendship train Abraham Lincoln |
 1949 football fans to Iowa City |  1949 Rock Island Freight Cars |  1953 Des Moines goodwill tour |
 depot Sept 1953 last train for the mainline |  1953 tearing up the track east of town |