Des Moines & Central Iowa

Company History: The state of Iowa was at one time festooned with traction lines, many of which survived to become diesel powered shortlines. The DM&CI was established in 1899 as the Inter-Urban Railroad but adopted the DM&CI name in 1922. It was a combination electric interurban passenger and freight line running from Des Moines, Iowa northwest to Perry with a second line northeast from Des Moines to Colfax. In all, there were 62 miles of line. Like most interurban lines, the passenger business withered away in the 20s and 30s. By 1946, the Colfax line had been abandoned. In 1949, the line was sold to the Salzburg shortline group, passenger service ended and the trolley wire taken down. Diesels took over the freight hauling duties. Five years later, the line north of Granger was abandoned. In 1968, the DM&CI was sold to Chicago & North Western.

Successor/Parent History: The Chicago and North Western Transportation Company (reporting mark CNW) was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s.

Until 1972, when the company was sold to its employees, it was named the Chicago and North Western Railway. The C&NW became one of the longest railroads in the United States as a result of mergers with other railroads, such as the Chicago Great Western Railway, Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway and others.

By 1995, track sales and abandonment had reduced the total mileage back to about 5,000. The majority of the abandoned and sold lines were lightly trafficked branches in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Large line sales, such as those that resulted in the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad further helped reduce the railroad to a mainline core with several regional feeders and branches.

The company was purchased by Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in April 1995 and ceased to exist.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.