Are there any good websites with information including a detailed map of the Rock Island? I've come across a photo of a Rock Island train at a rail crossing passing a sign which says "Rock Island Jct.". Because of other photos on the film I believe this to be Iowa but I would really like to know where it is and what is the other rail line? For all the stuff on the internet there seems to be a real shortage of information (websites) dealing with mid-western railroads (CRI&P, SLSF, MILW).
Rich
Rich,
The Rock's historical society has some good information on the railroad:
http://faculty.simpson.edu/RITS/www/histories/rockmaps/amrinemaps.html
http://faculty.simpson.edu/RITS/www/
One station named Rock Island Jct was at the eastern end of main track ownership in South Chicago. The Jct was located just north of 95th St and just west of the PRR Ft Wayne main bridge. The BRC crossed here and the B&O passenger main began where the RI ended.
Beyond the PRR and then NYC bridges there was a track that went north to the EJ&E interchange and Elevator D. Another track went to the right climbing the west side of the PRR elevation ending at PRR's Main Line Bridge Interlocking over the Calumet river. That track was how the RI and PRR interchanged.
I vaguely recall there may have also been a station named Rock Island Jct at Council Bluffs, I was never there and all my old timetables are packed acct moving soon, so maybe someone else can help out.
Looking at the last employee timetable, there were also Rock Island Jcts near Morse, Texas and at El Reno, Oklahoma. South Omaha had CRI&P Jct. Also a CRI&P Jct in Iowa on a branch line. There was a R I Jct near St. Louis. There may have been others abandoned before the 1979 timetable. Some of these "urban" areas 30 years ago may have looked a lot more rural than one would think. About when was the photograph taken?
Another possibility is that Rock Island Jct could be on another railroad that the RI had trackage rights over. I'd have to look, but it seems I've seen a MILW employee timetable that had a Rock Island Jct where RI trains entered/exited a branch line that the end points had been abandoned. The RI station name was different than the MILW station name.
In any case, some of these junction point names are for operating purposes and may not appear on a map for the general public.
Jeff
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