The original Black Hawk operated over the Illinois Central route, now the Canadian National's Chicago Central/Iowa Zone.

Prior to Amtrak, the Illinois Central Railroad operated the Land O'Corn between Chicago and Waterloo, Iowa, discontinuing it in 1967.

During a good part of the summer of 1977, the Black Hawk ran with a full dining car and dome coaches.

[5]: 44 In 2007, Amtrak, at the state of Illinois' request, conducted a feasibility study to reinstate the Black Hawk route to Rockford and Dubuque.

[citation needed] In April 2014, Governor Pat Quinn announced a $223 million investment to begin service as far as Rockford by 2015.

Instead, the train would take Metra's Milwaukee District / West Line and Union Pacific tracks through Elgin, Huntley, and Belvidere before terminating in Rockford.

[11] In February 2015, Governor Bruce Rauner announced that development of the route would be put on hold until further notice, as the state did not have sufficient funds to continue the project.

[15] In 2021, amid a push by the Biden administration to pass an infrastructure bill, Amtrak included two daily trains to Rockford in its 15-year expansion vision.

The document lists a one-way trip time of 1 hour 51 minutes and includes an additional stop at Roselle station.

[16] In November 2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which includes $4 billion for public transportation in Illinois.