McCook is a city in and the county seat of Red Willow County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,698 at the 2010 census.

Harlan County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 3,423. Its county seat is Alma. The county is home to the Harlan County Reservoir. In the Nebraska license plate system, Harlan County is represented by the prefix 51 (it had the 51st-largest number of vehicles registered in the county when the license plate system was established in 1922).

North Platte is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Nebraska, United States. It is located in the west-central part of the state, along Interstate 80, at the confluence of the North and South Platte Rivers forming the Platte River. The population was 23,390 at the 2020 census. North Platte is a railroad town; Union Pacific Railroad's large Bailey Yard is located within the city. Today, North Platte is served only by freight trains, but during World War II the city was famous for the North Platte Canteen. Tens of thousands of volunteers from North Platte and surrounding towns met the troop trains passing through North Platte, offering coffee, sandwiches, dessert, and hospitality to nearly seven million servicemen.North Platte is the principal city of the North Platte Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Lincoln, Logan, and McPherson counties.

Kearney is the county seat of Buffalo County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 30,787 in the 2010 census. It is home to the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The westward push of the railroad as the Civil War ended gave birth to the community.