Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad

Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad

DME 4004 and 4000 at Davis Junction, Illinois
Reporting mark	DME
Locale	Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming; United States
Dates of operation	1986–2008 CP Merger
Successor	Canadian Pacific
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Headquarters	Canadian Pacific Plaza Minneapolis,Minnesota

The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (reporting mark DME) is a Class II railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in the Northern Plains of the United States. Portions of the railroad also extend into Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa.

DM&E began operations on September 5, 1986, over trackage spun off from the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company in South Dakota and Minnesota. Many of the negotiations were handled by the office of Senator Larry Pressler and his legal counsel Kevin V. Schieffer. After DME's successful first decade, Schieffer succeeded J. C. McIntyre as president of the railroad on November 7, 1996.

DM&E purchased the assets of I&M Rail Link railroad in 2002, renaming it Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad. DM&E combined its management and dispatching duties with those of ICE under the holding company Cedar American Rail Holdings. The combined system directly connects Chicago through Iowa to Kansas City, Minneapolis-St. Paul and continues as far west as Rapid City, South Dakota. Smaller branches extend into portions of Wisconsin, Wyoming and Nebraska.