The Arrow offered the Milwaukee Road's overnight service between Chicago, Cedar Rapids, and Omaha, Nebraska. The train ran with coaches, a tap-diner and sleeping cars. A separate section of the train including a parlor and tap diner continued on to Sioux City and Sioux Falls. The train was split at Manilla, Iowa. Service to and from Milwaukee, Wisconsin was also provided via a connection with the Southwest Limited at Savanna, Illinois.
The train was the overnight equivalent of the Milwaukee Road's daylight scheduled Midwest Hiawatha. When the Milwaukee Road assumed operation of the Union Pacific's Overland Route trains in 1955 the Midwest Hiawatha was combined with the Challenger, then eliminated. The Arrow continued to operate as a separate train into the mid-1960s. The Milwaukee Road-Union Pacific "Cities" trains continued to operate over the same route until 1971.