Man, the CRI&P has one of the saddest stories for a Class 1 Midwestern RR, especially in the later years. Some of that 70's equipment looks like short-line material . Makes me think how different a story it's was than the MP, which was not bankrupt when it merged w/UP (far from it! ). Yet during the CRI&P's best years, the MoP was still in its 36 yr. bankruptcy, only to be pulled out of it by the ex-CRI&P Pres., Downing Jenks .
Harold- I can't think of the proper wording. But some of them had been leased via a setup with UP. So after shutdown, they went to the UP. Current status? I know that other units ended up scattered around. Some of the Geeps that went through their CRP, ended up on shortlines. But have not followed since then. Boxcab E50
Living in the Pacific Northwest my whole life, my Rock experiences are limited. I do recall fanning the BN hard in the early 90s and knowing that some of the EMD SD40 leasers I was seeing frequently were old Rock units. What summed it up best was sitting at the departure yard at Pasco, WA and seeing a blue grain hopper, kinda road weary, but the big "R" was still visible. New reporting marks were stenciled on it. I've not seen anything since then.
I was only around for 8 years of The Rock's existence, but I lived only a few blocks from the Fort Worth to Kansas mainline and have many fond memories... 1. I think some of my earliest recollections of my awareness of Rock Island were trains running not on their line but rather on the FW&D line. I'm not sure why they did that but I presume it was either trackage rights or derail reroutes. My uncle (a railfan and modeler then) told me at the time it was the latter. My grandparents lived adjacent to the FW&D and I saw most trains while there. 2. The reroute theory makes sense, because another big time recollection was the almost monthly derailments on the Rock Island lines. I was "aware" of about 100 miles of RI trackage from Fort Worth to the Red River and I can easily recall a dozen major derailments on that section of track during my short existance. I remember stories from my uncles (who were in the trucking business) about the railroad dicks coming around hassling them about tampering with their track, removing spikes, etc. In reality, it was quite the contrary. My dad (who was not in the trucking business) had an oilfield and steel supply company adjacent to the line near the Chico, TX rock crushers. His office was downhill from a large curve on a fill such that a derailment had a pretty decent chance of crushing his office. So we went up there one day and were quite shocked at the lack of spikes, end even TIES in the track. There were actually plenty of spikes...they just happened to be on the sidelines watching! There was one spot where it appeared two ties we completely gone....the tie plates and a few spikes were still there and I assume they just sank into the ground, but it was scary stuff. I ran down and grabbed a sledgehammer and spent about an hour "suring up" the track above the office. 3. With my dad's shop so close, I got some good opportunies to watch trains on the line, although mostly post-Rock on the OKKT. (he opened his shop in '78 and traffic was mostly done by then.) But a majority of his business was with the crushers, and I got to see all the loading equipment and their switchers and stuff which was cool. 4. Probably the saddest thing about the Rock for me was the demise of their beautiful station in Bowie, TX. I spent many days down goofing around in the abandoned building. I always respected the property and never took anything from there. I always assumed that somebody would do something special with it. Well, I regret that decision because, while it survived during the MKT years, within weeks of UP's takeover, they did something "special" with it alright....leveled it clean. I would have cut the Rock Island emblem off the building or something if I'd known. My only hope is that somebody was around to salvage some of the stuff, but I'm not aware that anything like that occurred. 5. Another for the "regret file"... a close family friend worked for the RI in the 20's near Waurika, Oklahoma and he used to tell me story after story about his experiences, plus some of the things he and his buddies used to do in their teens like hanging off bridges and stealing hats from passengers hanging out the windows. (I'm assuming they "hooked" them somehow although at the time I recall thinking how funny (and quite dangerous!) it would be if they were actually hanging upside down) Anyway, I wish I'd videotaped him at some point to get all those stories down. But I remember a few anyway.
The GP38-2s went to MP, and most were repainted Jenks blue. I'm sure quite a few are still around in UP colors. The GP40s may still be around in rebuilt form. Not sure of any of the U-boats, even tho quite a few U25Bs did go to Maine Central. None are on the roster now. I want to think some of the 4-axle U-boats became fodder for the Super 7 rebuilds by GE.
I know of one Rock Island unit, a GP18 high hood was working on the New England Southern during the 1990's. It had a crankshaft failure and was off line for a while. It is now in a B&M like maroon and silver paint scheme working for the Hobo Scenic RR of Merideth NH.
Whoops I mean a GP-7, somewhere between New England Southern and her current employment she got a chop nose.
I don't have any memories, unfortunately. I do have this to remind me though http://www.railimages.com/gallery/album425 "born too late" I always say
It was a restored engine on the Midland RR in Baldwin City, Kansas in July of 2001. So it is not really the old Rock but a great spark for old memories.
I used to see the mainline through Walcott IA in the early to mid 70's while visiting grand mother. Could see the tracks from back of house.
