The Atkinson and Northern Railroad was founded in the late 19th century to operate north from Atkinson, Nebraska, for about 25-30 miles to Perry in Boyd County, Nebraska.[1] [2] Although several cuts were made in preparation for the railroad, no track was laid and the railroad folded before it began.
The line was proposed as a way to get grain from the farms in Holt and Boyd counties to market.[3] Articles of incorporation were filed in 1898 with the company headquarters situated in Atkinson.[4] A bond vote for $10,000 towards the line's construction in October 1898 by the residents of Atkinson, failed.[5] But construction contracts were arranged in early March 1899,[6] and construction began on April 13, 1899, which led to some land speculation in the town of Atkinson.[7] By the end of April, 8 miles of the line had been graded.[8] In the next month, the railroad and construction contractors paid $8,000 to the crews working on the line, and construction continued without any bonds being issued, reassuring the local residents that the line would be completed.[9] Promoters for the railroad company had suggested that trains would be running on the line as early as July 1899.[10] In 1900, extensions and branches to Cedar Rapids and Lynch were proposed.[11] [12] Construction stalled and a new company was formed to take over the railroad in 1901, hoping to build it to completion as a narrow-gauge railway.[13] [14]