The ''Quad Cities Rocket'' was a named passenger train of the

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

. It operated on a route between

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Arsenal Island. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 census. Located on ...

. It was a remnant of one of the Rock Island's premier trains, the ''

Rocky Mountain Rocket The ''Rocky Mountain Rocket'' was a streamlined passenger train of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. Rock Island's train numbers 7 and 8 ran between Chicago's LaSalle Street Station and Denver's Union Station and Colorado Spring ...

.'' That train's route had been cut back to Omaha in 1966; after a year without a name, it was renamed ''The Cornhusker.'' In 1970, the train took its final form when its western terminus was cut all the way back to Rock Island. The railroad initially declined to hand passenger operations over to

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

and the ''Quad Cities'' continued to run as one of the company's two remaining routes (the other being the '' Peoria Rocket''). The State of Illinois subsidized the cost of service, contributing $500,000 in 1977 to offset losses by the railroad (equivalent to $ in adjusted for inflation). Trains ran until December 31, 1978 when the Rock Island ended its intercity passenger operations.

References

Named passenger trains of the United States Passenger trains of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Railway services discontinued in 1978 Passenger rail transportation in Illinois {{US-rail-transport-stub