The Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad was a short line running 16 miles. One line ran from downtown Chicago to Dolton, Illinois; the other running from Eighty-First Street to the Indiana state line. After World War II, changes in passenger travel and shipping meant that the need for rail access into downtown Chicago declined. The C&WI ended its service in 1994.

Authors Cynthia Ogorek and Bill Molony are both experienced writers of Chicago area and railroad history. Author of Along the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad, Ogorek first collaborated with Molony on a book about the railroads that served Matteson, Illinois. Molony, president of the Blackhawk chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, has also worked with Robert Sterling, PhD, on books about the Joliet area. The photographs they have chosen were found in historical societies throughout the south suburbs of Chicago.