Rock Island Westward

Volume 3: Western Division Freight Service, 1930-1952

ISBN 978-0-9908767-3-1

Written by the late Tom Lee, this is the third and final volume by the author on the history of the Rock Island Railroad’s Western Division, which extended west from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to both Denver and Colorado Springs. This brief book, based on a manuscript which the author had prepared prior to his death in 2014, presents freight train operations on the Western Division between 1930 and 1952. This time frame corresponds to Rock Island service during the Great Depression, World War II and the postwar end of steam power. Includes authoritative text on RI freight operations across the division, plus historical photos by noted rail photographers Otto Perry and Richard Kindig. This is a complementary companion piece to earlier volumes in the series.