Iowa Northern Railway Company v. Floyd County Board of Supervisors and Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors…

Summary

The court held that federal railroad law did not preempt the drainage district's authority to require replacement of a failing culvert beneath the railroad embankment. The proposed jack-and-bore project imposed, at most, incidental effects on rail transportation, and the railroad failed to prove that the project would unreasonably burden or interfere with its operations. The court vacated the court of appeals decision, reversed the district court judgment, and remanded for entry of judgment for the defendants and dissolution of the writ of mandamus.