new to trainboard, can`t beleive that rocket and i are the only ones interested in the "great but gone" rock island line. every one must be too young to remember such a great road. i still remember standing at the depot in chickasha, ok. and watching the first rock island rocket pull in. what a sight!!!
First of all, Trains34, WELCOME to the TrainBoard. I rode the CRI&P 4 times from November 1945 to May 1947. Each time, I was on the Rock's portion of the Golden State Limited between Chicago and Tucumcari on my way to/from Tucson. (strange coincidence, you also being in Tucson) I remember them as wonderful trips where I saw more rows of corn, more flat land, and more desert than this New England Boy ever knew existed in the World. Also, the first piece of N-Scale eqipment that I received was a Life Like CRI&P 40' boxcar my wife bought to get me back into the hobby 15 years ago. [ 25 June 2002, 02:00: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]
I had a very little exposure to the Rock Island. Some thirty years ago while in the Army, I saw a small amount of action. Around the area of northern Louisiana/southern Arkansas. And during a very brief layover in the Denver area. It's certainly an interesting RR. Love their depots. I collect train orders, so it's always a great moment when I can add a new location to my assortment. Have a few books and slides. But my budget just won't go far enough. I must stick to my very favorite RR here in the NW USA. BoxcabE50
No you aren't the only ones interested, even though I live the other side of the world, (and being young enough that I was only around for their final 6 years!) I still like "The Rock".... I love the "Rocket" E units, the funky rebuilds ("Christine!") the great paint schemes, the wonderfully diverse motive power, named blue GP38-2's, non-Amtrak passenger trains...the list goes on... The Rock Island is missed, even by those that never knew it...
I lived on a hill above the Rock Island tracks. I still remember going to sleep each night.... while watching out my window in a direct line with where the tracks came through the downtown area. The train would appear to be coming straight at the house. Then it would turn and follow the river. Watching the shadows the light from the train created on my bedroom walls... I would drift off to sleep. It wasn't until years later that I got involved with trains... and of course it had to be the Rock Island. I now model The Rock in N scale, and collect all the old memorabillia I can afford. My current project is an old switch lantern. I am mounting it on a cast bubblegum machine base and fitting it with an electric bulb. Locating the glass globes and the reflectors for it were a challenge. But, thanks to a friend here in Muscatine that is also an avid Rock Island fan, it is back in perfect shape. He has also got me interested in a short line called the Muscatine North & South Railroad. If anyone has any information on this road... Please let me know!
Welcome to our family here at the TrainBoard trains34! I remember riding on the Rock Island Rocket several times. I grew up at Wichita, Kansas so not far from you and Charlie. I started out in 1930, so a bit ahead of you! I even remember steam engines! HA!
My very first train ride was on the eastbound Rocky Mountain Rocket from Fairbury, NE to Davenport, IA in the spring of 1962. Later, when I lived in Des Moines in the 1960s, I'd ride my bike to the depot to see the RI passenger trains come & go. When my family moved to Joliet, IL in the early 1970s, I was near an industrial spur served by the Rock, and witnessed an Alco RS3 doing the work. Don't tell my folks this, but several times I'd ride my bike along US 6 into downtown Joliet to see the action at the Santa Fe/GM&O/Rock Island diamond. Sadly, the last RI freight train I ever saw was in Howe, OK in November 1979- I was with a friend chasing the KCS. I won't go into the visit to Oelwein and Council Bluffs, IA in 1981 shooting all the dead Rock Island diesels........too depressing. You may find it strange that a Frisco guy like me would have all those memories of the Rock Island, but it may be so beause I miss those midsize and granger lines.
This topic has caused me to remember the first train model I ever built ... a Strombecker kit of the Rock Island Rocket that came out in '46 or '47. Does anyone remember those neat Strombecker solid-wood models that only took a little sanding (sandpaper supplied), glue, and great-looking decals?
Arriving in this world in 1932, I don't believe I would be classified as to young. I have never seen the rocket in person but have seen pictures and loved it.
Yeah Hank, I still have the power truck we could buy back then to run the Strombecker engine! In fact, I even have some of the wood trucks, steel axel pins and wooden wheels, but they just don't track very well. In a box somewhere, I probably have some of the rooves, bottoms, and blocks for the passenger cars, but I'm not sure I still have the cardboard sides. I also have several sets of "real" trucks, all HO of course. Oh, and I probably have some of the old zinc track that was stapled to fiberboard tie strip! It is pretty wavey now. Yes, I remember the Strombecker kits, built lots of them!
