This train line present 4 locations to be ride to and from. The fabled chicago, rock island and pacific railroad was a legend in its own time. The ri rock island runs daily weekday trips start at 4. Normally, count on 469 train departures every week on rock island. Among the highlights of the rock island train festival were seven steam locomotives. It is also clear from this section that this film was aimed at potential clients for rock islands freight service. Passenger service, still a staple at this time, is bearly mentioned and not shown. In 2011, oak forest, then the secondbusiest station on the rock island line with 1,500 daily commuters and 23 trains, received a. For nearly 80 years, the rock island was a major railroad in arkansas providing passenger and freight services. One is called rock island steam power and the other is rock island motive power. Model railroader is the worlds largest magazine on model trains and model railroad layouts. Metra does not refer to its lines by color, but the timetable accents for the rock island district line are rocket red. Metra operation and the rail rail flyover connection will reduce congestion and freight conflicts and will connect metra s southwest service with the existing rock island district tracks, increasing capacity and improving reliability. Train festival 2011 features rarely traveled passenger train excursions pulled by beautiful steam, vintage diesel, and amtrak locomotives.
The alternate weekday schedules, which can be viewed here. Youll view the freight and passenger operations, yard action and get a good look at both steam and. Chicago, rock island and pacific railroad wikipedia. The rirca works on a variety of topics related to the rock island corridor, including, but not limited to. The rock island can handle your car storage and switching service needs. This is a nice concrete paved rail trail that runs about 7 miles north to. The rock island railroad was brought down by three people, judge frank j. Metra adds weekend express service for chicago auto show. See more ideas about rock island, rock island railroad and old trains. Rock island system the handbook of texas online texas.
Metra paints rock islandinspired unit to honor retiring. The railroad hasnt been in regular service since the early 1980s. Ill leave it the rail fans to identify the engine types in this section. Just like the 1957 timetable, this one has 20 pages with its red cover on the back. On december 1, 1903, the chicago, rock island and texas, the chicago, rock island and mexico, and the choctaw, oklahoma and texas were merged into the chicago, rock island and gulf. Find parking garages near rock island district ri to joliet. For details, click here on other lines, metra is operating an alternate weekday schedule until further notice to adjust for the reduced number of riders due to school closures, workfromhome mandates. On march 31, 1980, the rock island expired as a railroad company. Photo gallery includes detailed images of the trail, surroundings, and activities. Offering departs or arrivals dailly, those 4 points are c alled lasalle street, joliet, blue islandvermont, tinley park. This project will allow southwest service trains access to lasalle street station instead of union. In 1948, the future looked quite bright for the rock island, the road of planned progress, as john dow farrington called his railroad.
Ive read a couple of good books about rock islands late steam power. Rock rail was established in 2014 to focus on the development of innovative, value enhancing funding approaches for strategically important uk passenger rolling stock and other rail infrastructure. Many of the freight cars are also custom painted, and a few are even scratchbuilt. Cta rail stations, metra down town terminals, visitor cen ters. Rock island red the 484 trains magazine trains news. Two emd lwt12 aerotrains were built in 1956 as emd demonstrators using lightweight gm bus technology and then sold to the rock island along with a third production unit. Instead, the focus is on how quickly rock island can ship goods.
Feud between the longestablished stagecoach and steamship lines and the emergent railway companies trying to expand into the midwest. Metra provides a total of 67 train schedules every day. A decline in rail travel after world war ii and an increase in trucks hauling freight over governmentsubsidized interstates were among factors that left the railroad struggling. The railroad deck of government bridge is seen from above the control tower at the rock island arsenal on wednesday, october 12, 2016. Downtown chicago transit map regional transportation authority. Henry crown was a major investor who bought rock island bonds from fearful investors at pennies on the dollar betting on the bankruptcy judge mcgarr ruling to liquidate the property. Offering departs or arrivals dailly, those 4 points are c alled lasalle street, joliet, blue island vermont, tinley park. Annual report by chicago, rock island and pacific railway company. The rock island rail corridor authority rirca was established to manage and maintain the rock island corridor, which jackson county acquired in the spring of 2016. We had taken our bikes back to nebraska with us so i dropped her off for lunch and went to ride the rock island trail. Train trips include twohour and all day excursions, riverboat and rail combo excursions, and riverboat excursions.
Chicago metra has painted a motivepower mp36ph into the chicago, rock island and pacific railroads red and yellow livery in honor of ceo and executive director don orseno who is retiring this month. A few different versions sprang up in the succeeding years, the most famous. The rock island now had four relatively short texas subsidiaries each operated by its own organization. Rail system map detailed fare in for ma tion service. My wife had a lunch meeting with two women she had not seen since her college days. The most popular rock island model train locomotives brands include intermountain railway company, bowser manufacturing co. This refers to the chicago, rock island and pacific railroads rocket passenger trains. After a nice bath she shines as the sun sets ending a long day of work on at the american passenger train history museum in charles city, ia. Rock island e units make first public appearance trains. This nostalgic rock island video starts vintage runby and cab ride action in a film produced by rock island in the 1950s to promoting the roads modern rail system. Everything i needed to know about the rock island, i learned by playing the board game rail baron.
Rock island 231 was sold to the maine central and outlived the rick island. Railfanning the metra rock island district 9162018. Hobbylinc carries 31 rock island model train locomotives at discounts up to 35% including diesel ho, steam ho, and diesel n. The swing bridge connects rock island and davenport over the mississippi river and was constructed in.
The rock islands slogan should have been everywhere slowly. Excrip 1875 rock island rocket big ben gets pulled out of the shop with over a decade of grime and dust clinging to the original stainless steel car body. Friends of the rock island railroad public group facebook. Trip report rock island train festival vintage trains. The rock island corridor is a 145 mile segment of inactive rail corridor stretching from windsor to baufort. Saturday service on metras southwest service line will be. A might fine line was immortalized in song when clarence wilson, a member of the rock islands colored booster quartet an employee choir group from the railroads biddle shops in little rock, arkansas wrote rock island line in 1929. With forrest tucker, adele mara, lorna gray, bruce cabot. The most popular rock island model train locomotives brands include bachmann, bowser manufacturing co. Saturday service on metra s southwest service line will be suspended until further notice.
See more ideas about rock island, rock island railroad and train. Rock island aerotrain museum of transport one of two. Train 1 now went from chicago to rock island and had no counterpart in the other direction meaning its cars were tacked onto some other train, probably train 6, to go back to chicago. I miss the days when trains ran stories like that one. Rock island rail corridor authority jackson county, mo. One of two surviving emd aerotrains newly restored to its second life livery as a rock island train. Hobbylinc carries 24 rock island model train locomotives at discounts up to 32% including diesel ho, steam ho, and diesel n. Illinois valley commuter rail feasibility study pdf report. The illinois railway museum arrived with the streamlined nebraska zephyr trainset. View photos of the rock island rail trail tx on traillink. This video contains an outbound metra trip on the rock island district rail line departing from lasalle street station and arriving at the joliet. Get uptodate service advisories that may affect your trip.
Ventra app metra customers now have a convenient schedupe way to buy and display metra rock island schedule with their smartphones. Summary shows midwestern states with drainage, cities and towns, township and county boundaries, and the railroad network with emphasis on the main line. The rock island district ri is a metra commuter rail line from chicago, illinois, southwest to joliet. The locomotives are two custom painted athearn blue box ge u30bs. Orseno is retiring after 44 years in railroading and first worked for the rock island in the 1970s. Rock island rail trail lincoln 2020 all you need to. The reason why so many are interested in the corridor is because of its connection points with the katy trail in the states major metropolitan areas of kansas city.
1639 968 1616 237 909 975 1175 685 697 899 484 1481 550 1429 182 238 962 797 1288 1583 556 1163 1362 849 653 255 460 1092 375 1069 1050 544 430 647