General Discussion (Model Railroader)

I love the 'The Rock' blue and white scheme and the big 'R', but I don't know anything about the roadname. Where is the headquarters and where can you find The Rock running its stuff? TIA.

 -beegle55

beegle55 wrote:

I love the 'The Rock' blue and white scheme and the big 'R', but I don't know anything about the roadname. Where is the headquarters and where can you find The Rock running its stuff? TIA.  -beegle55

"The Rock" is, or rather was, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific. It went out of business in 1980, IIRC and was the largest railroad to quit operations altogether. You might want to check out its historical society: http://faculty.simpson.edu/RITS/www/ and this: http://www.rockisl.com/PaintSchemes/Type8/Type8.htm

Andre

Thanks for the reply Andre! Nice websites too. I figured they went out of buisness because I haven't heard that much about it and most of the Rock Island stuff I have is from way back. That doesn't mean much, but its a trend in models that happens once the prototype hits bottom... Thanks again!

 -beegle55

And one more thing, who, if anybody, got those nice looking locos once they tanked? (They were nicely weathered, lol, so I doubt that many survived) Thanks!

 -beegle55

beegle55 wrote:

I love the 'The Rock' blue and white scheme and the big 'R', but I don't know anything about the roadname. Where is the headquarters and where can you find The Rock running its stuff?

It also ran from Colorado Springs NE through Limon CO, Jennings KS, and ???? beyond - Omaha eventually.  Des Moines seemed to be a central location on the railroad.  They connected north to the Twin Cities.

The original mainline was a UP connector from Chicago to Omaha NE.

That is about the limit of my Rock Island knowledge!  Not really but make a couple big "X"s through the mid west from those points and that will be Rock Island Territory.

Texas Zepher wrote:

beegle55 wrote: I love the 'The Rock' blue and white scheme and the big 'R', but I don't know anything about the roadname. Where is the headquarters and where can you find The Rock running its stuff? I used to watch Rock stuff roll through Elbing Kansas just north of Wichita.  From Wichita it went Southwest throught Pratt, Liberal to Tuccumcari NM.  To the North of Elbing it went north at least through Herrington KS. It also ran from Colorado Springs NE through Limon CO, Jennings KS, and ???? beyond - Omaha eventually.  Des Moines seemed to be a central location on the railroad.  They connected north to the Twin Cities. The original mainline was a UP connector from Chicago to Omaha NE. That is about the limit of my Rock Island knowledge!  Not really but make a couple big "X"s through the mid west from those points and that will be Rock Island Territory.

What is now the UP Fort Worth Sub is the old Rock Island from Fort Worth north to Herington, KS thru El Reno, OK Which is where the Rock Choctaw line split to go to Memphis, TN. At Herington, the line went west to Tuccumcari, NM and east to KC, KS and St Louis and to Minneapolis, MN on the Twin Star Route. At Paxico, KS the line split and you could either go on the Golden State Route thru Herington, KS or west on the Rocky Mountain line thru Manhattan, KS to Limon where you could either go SW to Colorado Springs, CO or Denver, CO. At Ottumawa, IA you could west to Fairbury, NE or east to Chicago. The lines still in exesistance are the IAIS-Chicago, IL to Council Bluffs, IA; ICE from KC, MO to Minneapolis, MN on the Twin Star Route and Chicago, IL; Kyle from Salina, KS to Limon, CO along the old Rock High Line, UP from Topeka, KS to LA, CA on the Golden State Route and Herington, KS to FT Worth on the Twin Star Route and El Reno, OK to OK City, OK on the old Choctaw Route. A lot of the locomotives were either returned to Lessor or sold. The UP bought a few of the GP40s and new caboose. A lot of the covered hoppers were bought by the C&NW and still roam in Rock Blue but letter and numbered for C & NW. The business Car Lake Michigan is now the Business car for MRL.

Cool. Thanks guys! I would consider modeling the prime of the Rock Island era if I was located more to the west, but I am kind of partial to north eastern roads that reach into and around WV. I guess that could be because I have a chance to see it and can get a feel for the scenery. Great info, and know I'm informed. Thanks!

 -beegle55

beegle55 wrote:

I love the 'The Rock' blue and white scheme and the big 'R', but I don't know anything about the roadname. Where is the headquarters and where can you find The Rock running its stuff? TIA.  -beegle55

The rock island was a wreck of a railroad by the end but was one of the most interesting modeling oppertunities or the 1970s.  The rock, especially certain lines, was a jungle of slow orders on the track and barely workable equipment.  While it was by no means a well run and well oiled machine, like the Southern or Union Pacific was at the time, I'd argue that it was far more interesting to model railroad opperations than roads where you know exactly what is going to happen every run.

Think of it like a book, every time you read a book it's exactly the same, you may pick up on more themes and ideas and such but it's the same story.  That's a lot like what a boring opperating session would be, the same story for the billionth time.  Railroads like the Rock Island (and any other railroad through creative ideas) can be far more interesting. 

How much more challenging would it be to get a train in on time when you're blocked in by miles and miles of slow orders?  Or if your engines are slowly failing one after another as you go down the road and there's a 1% grade up ahead?  While it would be hellish for a real crew out on the road it would be a real challenge for an operator on a model pike.  Also think about how it would be on the dispatcher, trying to get your hotshots out while your sidings are woefully inadequate and spaced too far appart. 

Another interesting thing about the Rock Island is the weathering. Going crazy on an engine is considdered overdoing it on most lines but on several of the 1970s lines like the Rock Island and Penn Central it's expected.

Good luck with the Rock! Research is the key to making any good model railroad, regardless of prototype, and I believe that it's also one of the most enjoyable parts of the hobby.

Cheers!

~METRO 

When I was a youngster in El Paso TX. I used to Rock Island stuff come into the North side of El Paso on the line down from Tucumcari, NM.  I think the line was actually SP , but Rock stuff came down that line regularly. Don't know why.

beegle55

Here are a few shots of the early 70’s Rock Island before the days of Blue. It was always fun to railfan the Rock as they had a very worn out mixed bag of motive-power.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=44221

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=44747

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=57619

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=44527

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=47804

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=44690

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=45104

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=44564

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=45714

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=46754

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=90996

In Rock Island Illinois right next door to me. Its part of the Quad Cities....Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, Rock Island. I have some of the last videos of the Rock before it went bankrupt in the late 70's. I used to work in Rock Island at WHBF-TV and got the video's from work. Its one of the reasons why our anchor got a great job in Chicago.( His piece on the demise of the Rock).

My layout depicts the Davenport Rock Island and Northwestern. A little shortline that ran from 1903 to 1995. Here are the switchers....

Evidence of the Rock Island line through Texas is seen all along I-40, which parallels the former rail route and shows a lot of signs of its existence - including an 'up and over' grade separation over what is now a one lane dirt road just east of Amarillo.  (I don't doubt that most people think it's a speed bump on steroids!)

One little stub end of that line, also at the east end of Amarillo, still has rails.  The BNSF uses it to store out-of-service rolling stock.

Chuck

Charlie wrote:

Limon where you could either go SW to Colorado Springs, CO or Denver, CO.

Just as a matter of passing interest, U25B #227 ( http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=47804 )  ended up on the Maine Central in 1980.

Andre