A Mighty Good Road: The Decline and Fall of the Rock Island Railroad

by Luke Jones  on Monday, Jul. 30, 2012 12:00 am   5 min read

A Rock Island train rumbles past the passenger station in Little Rock, already closed and board up in 1973. The railroad's liquidation in 1980 was the largest the nation had ever seen. (Photo by Bill Pollard) (Bill Pollard)

As the song says, the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railroad - known by most as simply the Rock Island - was "a mighty good road." It was the road to ride: By the middle of the 20th century, the Rock Island had 8,000 miles of track across the United State

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