Sunset Cluster

"Roger Grant's thoughtful and well-researched study of a handful of late-comer railroads in western Iowa is far more than a regional addition to the existing literature. Not every railroad was a Pennsylvania or a Santa Fe, and not every builder was a Vanderbilt or Harriman, but hometown folk pursuing local rail construction projects provide a valuable case study that showcases the optimism still extant during the twilight years of railroad expansion, the result being these short and often marginal late arrivals."—Carlos A. Schwantes, co-author of Crossroads of a Continent: Missouri Railroads, 1851-1921

"Roger Grant has done another masterful job in presenting an aspect of railroad history that is too often overlooked.  The last burst of railroad construction, particularly in the Midwest, is overshadowed by the tumultuous years after the First World War.  Grant has taken the histories of five short line railroads in Iowa and placed them in the larger context of the sunset of railroad expansion in the United States.  In doing so he's produced an interesting an enjoyable book for scholars and the general reader."—Nick Fry, Curator, John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library at University of Missouri - St. Louis