Long live the rock in my basement.

[Anonymous]

Ok By now weve established im a rock fan and i am building the rock from burr oak yard to bureau jct in ho scale in my basement and its coming along nicely. What i need from this wonderful comunity of railfans is anyone out there that has track diagrams of this teritory and or pictures of the row or even an old hogger that ran the line that has some stories. Unforunately the rock was shut down a year after i was born sooooooo dont have much to go on other than books i have read, us govt maps, and railfan trips up and down this section of rr.The line is now a shell of its fromer RI glory that i am attemting to recreate and would like anything i can go on. Have been to RITS and most the rail pic sites online. help anyone[:D] LONG LIVE THE ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Back when I was a punk kid growing up in the Chicago area, I was lucky enough to ride and experience the Rock from downtown to Joliet. What a railroad! One day in 1974, during summer vacation, I sat all day near the Blue Island,Vermont street, depot and watched the action all day. Alcos switching the yards, tripple headed E-8's hauling freights, E-6 # 630 on commuter trains, the 750 or 751 AB-6 on commuter runs.....F-3's and ex Union Pacific (can I use their name?) E-9's still wearing yellow on commuter trains. Then there was the rockets...sometimes 2 cars, sometimes 12 with a Vista dome (big ben). It was a great railroad and I miss it deeply. Long live the rock, indeed.

[mudchicken]

Hint:

(1) 2nd floor, large library at Iowa City that is a state university
(2) collection in the stacks of another large state university library at Norman (can't mention name for fear of Mookie going ballistic at just the mention of the name.)
(3) in the basement of 1416 Dodge Street in Omaha (if it hasn't moved yet)
(4) National Archives II - Rockville, MD

All require $$$ and three require serious research time. (1) and (2) got their records from CRIP's offices at LaSalle Street/ Chicago after the trustee pulled the plug following the rummage sale/fire sale/parting out of the Rock...The third one is more inclined to listen to engineers (civil tribe) and surveyors and charges $40.00 a map sheet. Model railroaders are viewed as pests (for good reason) at two of the three locations listed above because of theft, incessant dumb questions, grandstanding and wasted time/ resources created by some that tarnishes all's good standing. (damned subfans!)

ps - knov the difference between a track chart and a val map for openers (most in the sister forum to this one don't understand)

[Noah Hofrichter]

AS far as what the area looks like you might want to go to www.terraserver.microsoft.com You can go to older areial photos and one of them might have something, but I'm not sure how far back the data base goes.

Hope I helped,
Noah

[obermeyern]

((3) in the basement of 1416 Dodge Street in Omaha (if it hasn't moved yet)
...The third one is more inclined to listen to engineers (civil tribe) and surveyors and charges $40.00 a map sheet.
ps - knov the difference between a track chart and a val map for openers


I am looking for info on the Mopac line in northern kansas. would the same address have that info? How do I go about getting to it from the UP when I visit? Do I just ask? Do I need to take a civil engineer with me? How large are the map sheets? What is the difference between a track chart and a val map?

[mudchicken]

Can you tell us which MoPac Line in Northern Kansas ? (between where and where?) so that we can determine:
(1) is it still currently in Union Pacific ownership?
(2) is it abandoned?
(3) was it turned over to Kyle/Statesrail/RailAmerica like so many other lines in NE Kansas? (case in point: Beloit, KS)

A track chart is a line schematic on letter size paper used by railroads for planning purposes showing alignment, profile, maintenance history, timetable speeds, etc. and is a "snapshot" of the current condition of the railroad. Usually about 5 miles of railroad fit on a sheet. These track charts are considered proprietary info and do not get released to the public generally. Some railroads will issue modified versions of the track chart to train crews in small booklets (simplified with maintenance data removed)to supplement the condensed profiles found in the timetables. A sample would look like this:
(http://www.drgw.net/drgw-info/paper/gradecharts/denver-dotsero-[1992]/data-images/denver-dotsero-[1992]-[MP0-5]-2640x2040.gif )

An ICC Val Map, a function of the ICC Act of 1913, is generally a 28" x 57" sheet of layered cadastre (before GIS, there was the manual cadastre) at various scales that could have covered anywhere between one and seven miles of railroad and had multiple overlapping series of maps with the most detail showing up in large terminals and cities. Out in the boonies, one map would suffice. 28" x 57" was the mandated size required by ICC, once the in-house maps come into play , that can be anything from a roll map (36" x 100 feet long) to 24" x24" that CB&Q used in many places.

If the railroad existed just before World War I, chances are that there is a val map for that piece of railroad. After 1983, only the Class 1's had to keep the maps current though (and CR and SP did nothing & never got caught)....

Mudchicken mind candy!



[banghead][banghead][banghead]

[obermeyern]

Originally posted by mudchicken

Can you tell us which MoPac Line in Northern Kansas ? (between where and where?) so that we can determine:
(1) is it still currently in Union Pacific ownership?
(2) is it abandoned?
(3) was it turned over to Kyle/Statesrail/RailAmerica like so many other lines in NE Kansas? (case in point: Beloit, KS)

The Mopac line was the Concordia subdivision and I am looking for info for the line from Frankfort to Concordia. It had been turned over to KYLE. Part of it (frankfort to Ames) is abandoned, the rest is storage track.

Nate

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