Des Moines Rocket
Des Moines Rocket was a named passenger train of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. It originally ran between Chicago, Illinois and Des Moines, Iowa. The name honored the new lightweight, streamlined diesel-electric trains introduced in 1937. Service was suspended on August 21, 1960, in defiance of the Interstate Commerce Commission's orders to keep it running. Passenger extras ran between Davenport and Des Moines until the following year when an eastbound Golden State was offered as a replacement (without a westbound counterpart). The train was introduced with one of the Budd Company’s Rock Island Rockets trainsets. The initial consist was:
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:07 (CET).