Railroads in the Midwest: An Epic History

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 officials bragged that the Hawkeye State had a depot and agent located no farther than thirteen miles from any point within its borders.

In Railroads in the Midwest: An Epic History, renowned historian H. Roger Grant draws on fifty years of research into America’s celebrated railroad history to examine what effect railroads had in the heartland and what has happened to them since the early twentieth century.

H. Roger Grant (November 1943-November 2023) was author of numerous books on railroads and transportation, including Railroads and the American People and A Mighty Fine Road. He was Kathryn and Calhoun Lemon Professor of History at Clemson University.