Railroads in the Midwest

Discover how railroad companies in America's heartland developed a monumental network that spanned nearly 70,000 route miles. Over a century, a wide array of carriers ranging from short lines to trunk roads spread through the Midwest and represented over 35% of the country's rail mileage in the 1920s. Railroads in the Midwest is a portrait of two premier rail hub rivals, Chicago and St. Louis, and of Iowa and Ohio, which boasted the highest line densities. Before World War I, Iowa railroad offic