Des Moines Rocket

The Des Moines Rocket was a named passenger train of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. It in initially ran between Chicago, Illinois and Des Moines, Iowa. The service was named in honor of 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.^[1] Passenger extras were run between Davenport and Des Moines until the following year when an eastbound Golden State was offered as a replacement (without a westbound counterpart).^[2]

The train was introduced with one of the new Rock Island Rockets trainsets built by the Budd Company. The initial consist was:^[3]

• Articulated 3 car set:
  • 32 seat Baggage-dinette-coach #401 Norman Judd
  • 60 seat coach #307 Grenville Dodge
  • 76 seat coach #301 Henry Farnum
• 32 seat, 1 drawing room, parlor, buffet, observation car #451 L M Allen

• Quad Cities Rocket

• "Des Moines Rocket Consists". Rock Island Technical Society. Archived from the original on April 30, 2015.