Fort Madison, Iowa
Kingsley Inn
707 Ave. H
Fort Madison, IA 52627
319-372-7074
800-441-2327
My wife and I stayed at the Kingsley Hotel, Ft Madison July 2006. We had room 205, which is upstairs and faces east, across Main Street (Highway 61, of Bob Dylan fame!), 3 BNSF tracks, old Fort Madison and the Mississippi! The room is top-class, with a king-size bed and spa! The windows are fixed shut, and have extra “plexiglass” panels on the inside, to reduce the noise and, in winter, to retain the heat! Downstairs, in the guests’ lounge, the owner has installed a speaker, wired to a scanner, tuned to the BNSF dispatcher – so you need not miss any trains!
At the north end of town is the magnificent road/rail bridge linking Iowa and Illinois – the bridge-tender can also be heard on the scanner, when he/she wants to open the bridge to let barges through. Train frequency is high – every 10-15 mins, each way, each hour, 24/7! Lots of stack trains, manifests, a few unit coal trains on the third track, and Amtrak’s daily Southwest Chief (Santa Fe’s really!) in both directions. BNSF appeared to be “flat out” keeping up with the offering traffic – apart from their very latest units from EMD and GE, and lots of leased power, they had dirty, scruffy, old units which should have been scrapped by now! I rate Room 205 at the Kingsley as T.A.5 – save your pennies and go visit!
Submitted by Paul E. Bowler 12.04.06
For a view of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe mainline and the ex-CB&Q "K" Line try the Kingsley Inn. The east front room will give you a great view. The trains will blow for the 6th Street crossing into the Riverview Park by the ATSF 2913 (4-8-4). During my trip I met a retired C&EI engineer from Danville, IL that was staying at the Kingsley and spending some time at 6th Street crossing shooting photos. Just tell them another railfan tipped you off to the place.
Submitted by railscenes@trainorders.com 10.24.01
I stayed at the Kingsley Inn in Ft Madison, IA. It was close enough to the BNSF (ex ATSF and BN) main line that the rooms were provided with earplugs. The tracks are just across the street (we were close enough in the dining room to detect a couple of ties smoldering, and get fire department help), and the Mississippi River is on the other side of the tracks. There is a small museum in the old ATSF station within 100 yds, and about 1.5 miles from the Amtrak station.
Submitted by Bengt Muten, 6/24/2000
Super 8 Motel
5107 Avenue O
Fort Madison, IA 52627
319-372-8500
The Super 8 Motel in Fort Madison Iowa is the away from home terminal lodging for BNSF Engineers from Kansas City and also road crews off Union Pacific RR. The Conductors were formerly Chicago Northwestern and the Engineers are former Southern Pacific... We have lots of fun comparing the operations of both railroads.. Occasionally there are other crafts (Signal/Maintenance of Way) they lodge there from BNSF.. This is former ATSF property.
Submitted by Roy E.Palmer, Loco Engr, Marceline, MO 2.3.03