Nostalgia & History > While it's still Maroon Monday....

By February 1980 it was finally dawning on everyone that the Government was really going to allow the Rock Island to die. So it was that on a cold, windy Sunday afternoon I headed out to Silvis, IL in hopes of getting some shots of my old friend while it still existed.

As it turned out, the only thing colder than the weather was the hard dose of reality that awaited me in Silvis. The profoundly quiet terminal and tracks full of derelict equipment were evidence enough that the heart of the Rock Island was barely beating.

A solitary train arrived from the east the whole time I was in town, which I duly photographed from the pedestrian overpass that spanned the arrival tracks and connected the shops to the crew dormitory, despite thinking "$%&@# it, I coulda stayed home and shot this train a block from my house!!"

It wasn't until after I got the slides back that I fully appreciated the powerful image of a lone train in an empty yard, and now nearly 35 years later I count these three slides among my most cherished Rock Island images. Hope you find them to your liking, too.

1) Extra 244 West arrives Silvis from Blue Island and finds the party nearly over.

2) RI 244, an early-model U28B, is assisted by U30C 4594. Clearly 244 is having some identity issues.

3) 244 and 4594 pulls down through an empty arrival yard and under the dormitory bridge.

Thanks for looking,

NZ

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Great stuff, I never tire of seeing Rock Island stuff. I think it would be a blast to model that kind of beat up power.

Yes, you could say those U-boats are weathered.

Marty Bernard

I like those shots as sad as they are to look at. The Rock should of never been allowed to die. It still lives on in my heart and memory and always will.

It is so hard to say goodbye to a friend like that - and I believe most of us really do consider our old favorites as friends. Always there for you when you need some good energy! Glad you took these and shared them here.

~RGDave

Sobering but glad you were there to witness and share the moment.
JB

Cool wood caboose shot!!

Thanks for posting, Harold! Sad shots. #1 especially tugs at my heart: Such a sprawling yard, obviously down to a bare-bones business level. I'm glad my Grandfather never lived to see that!

Lance