May 31, 1970 – An End Of An Era In Iowa City.

On Sunday afternoon, May 31, 1970 – two Rock Island Rockets pulled into Iowa City. At 2:25 p.m., No. 7 – headed west to Council Bluffs – stopped at the Iowa City depot, and at 3:30 p.m., No. 10 – headed east to Chicago – did the same. Sadly, after 114 years of passenger train service – May 31, 1970 would become the last day when a regularly-scheduled passenger train would serve the residents of Iowa City and Johnson County.

In other posts, we’ve covered, in great detail, the exciting beginnings of railroad service here Iowa City.

In 1856, the Iowa-based Mississippi & Missouri (M&M) Railroad began regular passenger service from Davenport to Iowa City. In 1866, M&M was bought out by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (CRI&P) Railroad and by 1869, the Rock Island had completed their line from Davenport to Council Bluffs.

Iowa City’s first train depot (above left) was located at the south end of Johnson Street – four blocks to the east of the present Rock Island station on Wright Street – This first station faithfully served Iowa Citians until 1898, when the Rock Island built a new state-of-the-art railroad station (pictured above right & below). You can read more here.

*The **Chicago-Rock Island-Pacific (CRI&P) Railroad Depot** located at **109 Wright Street** is listed on the **National Register of Historic Places** and is an **Iowa City Historical Landmark**.*

Of course, M&M & Rock Island locomotives, over the years, transitioned from wood & coal burning (above) to modern diesel engines (below). You can read more here.

This May 1966 Route Schedule shows six passenger trains coming through Iowa City each day: three west-bound (to Des Moines, to Omaha, and to Denver) and three east-bound (from Des Moines, from Omaha, and from Denver, all headed to Chicago). These three passenger trains were called The Des Moines Rocket, The Corn Belt Rocket (Omaha), and The Rocky Mountain Rocket.

Once airline service began to become a popular way to travel, railroads like the Rock Island began to lose money at astounding rates. While freight service was still very lucrative, passenger service declined rapidly, and by the late 1960’s, there were only two passenger trains coming into Iowa City on a daily basis: The No. 7 – westbound from Chicago to Council Bluffs, and the No. 10 – eastbound from Council Bluffs to Chicago, and both of those trains were running very light on passengers.

Despite much criticism around Iowa, the Rock Island filed a request with the Interstate Commerce Commission to drop its passenger service, and by May 20, 1970, the newspapers across Iowa began reporting the bad news…

And so, on Sunday, May 31, 1970 – it happened…

As the Iowa City Press-Citizen reported (above), there were large crowds that came out that afternoon to experience the last two passenger trains as they rolled into Iowa City.

Fortunately, one of those spectators – Stephen Crews Wylder – who now lives in Elkhart, Indiana – took some great photographs that day and he’s graciously given us permission to share a few with you. As Steve tells it, he took the bus to Davenport from Iowa City, rode No. 7 westward to Marengo, and then hopped aboard the eastbound No. 10 to Iowa City.

Here’s Rock Island No. 7 (above) arriving from Chicago in Davenport.

After arriving in Marengo, Steve hopped off and took these shots (above & below) of No. 7 heading westward to Council Bluffs.

Below: Here’s Rock Island #10 (Council Bluffs to Chicago) pulling into the Marengo, Iowa station – west of Iowa City.

Finally, here’s Rock Island’s #10 (below) – pulling into Iowa City for the very last time.

Below, as she leaves the station, the 114-year tradition of passenger train service in and out of Iowa City comes to a close.

Gone – but certainly not forgotten!

Ten years later – on March 31, 1980, the financially-bankrupt Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (CRI&P) Railroad finally closed its doors in Iowa. After 125 years of daily service into Johnson County, the last Rock Island freight train rolled through Iowa City. Read more details here.

No doubt about it – The Rock Island Line is a mighty good road…

On a personal side, my grandfather – William Hollis Boyer – worked for the Rock Island for 53 years (1898-1951) in Trenton, Missouri. Read more here.