I was taking the long way home from somewhere last night and remembered it had been awhile since I checked on the old grain elevator in the little town of Fremont, Iowa.
I only had my cell phone with me and the sky had turned completely overcast, the light not good. But I noticed a couple more sheets of metal had fallen off the old girl, so I decided to take a few shots just to document things for myself.
It was so quiet out there on the edge of town, only open farmland stretching out behind me. I fell into this kind of “trance” that sometimes happens when I’m alone at dawn or dusk, shooting something I truly love.
I knew two railroads had once served Fremont on their way to Oskaloosa, the tracks all long gone now. The narrow gauge Burlington & Western ran on the south side of town. It was later widened to standard and became part of the CB&Q, and then abandoned in the 30s.
On the north side of town, where I was standing, the Iowa Central laid its rails. In addition to the old wooden grain elevator in this complex, there was a depot, small stockyards and a creamery along the tracks. This line became part of the Minneapolis & St. Louis (the “Louie” or the “Em and St El”).
So much happened, where now the quiet reigns. And the old elevator is the only surviving structure to mark the time and remind us that the railroad ran out here.
Lost in thought, as I often am, I was completely surprised when the sun dropped lower and the sky started turning all shades of wonderful in an instant. How fast it all changed and I moved fast trying to capture the magic! I did no editing or saturation here, it was just like this.
And though it may sound kind of pitiful, I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend this Friday night, out here with ghosts of an old elevator and railroad, in farm country, on the first glorious night of Spring.
Fremont, Iowa
March 20, 2026
