The Rock Island Line /

This richly illustrated volume tells the story of a legendary railroad whose tracks spanned the Midwest, serving farms and small-town America for more than 140 years. One of the earliest railroads to build westward from Chicago, it was the first to span the Mississippi, advancing the frontier, bring...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Marvel, Bill, 1938-
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [2013]
Series:Railroads past and present.
Subjects:
Description
Summary:This richly illustrated volume tells the story of a legendary railroad whose tracks spanned the Midwest, serving farms and small-town America for more than 140 years. One of the earliest railroads to build westward from Chicago, it was the first to span the Mississippi, advancing the frontier, bringing settlers into the West and hauling their crops to market. Rock Island's celebrated Rocket passenger trains also set a standard for speed and service, with suburban runs as familiar to Windy City commuters as the Loop. For most of its existence, the Rock battled competitors much larger and richer than itself and when it finally succumbed, the result was one of the largest business bankruptcies ever.
Physical Description:169 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), maps ; 28 cm.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:9780253011275
0253011272