4R Act of 1976

[Abby Brown] For a long time, railroads were super important and allowed Iowans to travel for work and for fun. They could get goods and food and even get their mail.

(Abby pulls the train whistle.)

Train whistles signaled the arrival of a train on such a regular basis that in some communities you could tell what time it was based on when the whistle blew.

But after about 100 years of railroad success, other modes of transportation were developing like the highway system for cars and trucks. The train industry had trouble keeping up. Maintaining the safety of the train tracks and structures became really difficult. Even if the rails near your town were in good shape, in order for the railroads to work across the country, they needed to be in perfect condition every single mile. In 1976, Congress passed the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act. Nicknamed the 4R Act.

The 4R Act basically changed a lot of the rules that the railroad industry had been operating under. Railroad companies were no longer required to maintain their rails perfectly so that all the trains could be guaranteed safety. Some railroad companies continued to thrive after the 4R Act, but some companies moved on and a plan was made for the rails that were left behind to be used for fun, like biking and hiking trails.

Rail lines like this one in Boone, Iowa, may no longer do the job that they were built for, but they're still being used. Time has a way of changing everything.

Can you think of trails in your neighborhood that might actually have been railroad tracks? Hope you had fun investigating new discoveries in Iowa.

Funding for FIND Iowa has been provided by The Coons Foundation, Pella and the Gilchrist Foundation.