SCOUTING YESTERDAY | South Dakota's pre-Amtrak rail struggles led to snub

This week in South Dakota history

(Federal Railroad Administration)

Hopes South Dakota could join the rest of its lower-48 brethren in having passenger rail service were reignited this winter when the Federal Railroad Administration unveiled a proposed route map showing a potential line through the Mount Rushmore State.

It’s the latest in a decades-long, off-and-on pursuit to get what’s known as Amtrak in the Mount Rushmore State.

Gov. Richard Kneip and Sen. James Abourezk were lobbying the then-new National Railroad Passenger Corporation, operating under the name Amtrak, for a return of passenger rail service to South Dakota 50 years ago, according to a Rapid City Journal article at the time.

South Dakota’s rail service had long faced hurdles, going back to 1871. That’s when the Dakota Southern Railway Company, which had began the first service in Dakota Territory, saw federal subsidies in the form of land grants come to an end, leaving companies to rely on their own profitability to establish new routes.

(Courtesy of Amtrak)

Chicago & North Western railroad manager Marvin Hughitt would visit the territory in 1877, according to the South Dakota State Historical Society. That trip convinced Hughitt the development of rail would spur economic growth, which in turn would pay for the necessary infrastructure. The Milwaukee Road followed North Western’s lead, and soon eastern Dakota Territory was crisscrossed with freight and passenger service.

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