Nostalgia & History > Rochelle, IL August, 1999

I was recently viewing some of my old video footage and came across a day spent at Rochelle, IL in August of 1999.   This railfanning day was likely my last "hurrah" before heading off to college. 

I was truly amazed by many of the locomotive consists seen that day--consists that were fairly routine back then, but would light-up Trainorders if they were to happen today. 

This clip features run-bys of many of those BNSF and UP consists.   Locomotives are seen from UP, C&NW, SP, BNSF, BN, ATSF, MRL, WC(ex-DEEX), GATX, and even some BRC cow/calf switcher sets!

Certainly the video quality and videography leave a LOT to be desired by today's standards (I cringe a lot when watching my footage from my early days of video taping trains), but that is overcome by the trains themselves. 

Thanks for watching!

~Tom

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Thanks!  No mindless GE eveloution series runbys!  LOL!

  The trains seem to be going higher speeds than the many we see on the "Trains" cam now.  And, you happened to be there on my 60th birthday.

Speaking of Rochelle, Nippon Sharyo has a manufacturing plant there. They are are building the SMART DMUs. Anyone know of railfan groups or bulletin boards that would be visited by Rochelle locals who might have eyes on the ground, be able to say when the DMUs were being shipped out?

I know four are due to leave anytime soon. They may even be out outside the plant,wrapped in protective sheeting fopr transpot. 

I wonder if the Japanese executives think it's weird that they are building all the rail passenger cars in a town without Amtrak or Metra service.

Interesting video, Tom, thaks for posting.  

Some comments if you will.  Those BRC cow-calf sets were undoubtedly dead in tow, I'm
guessing headed for ILS in Babbit, MN.  Maybe someone can come up with a history.  

If you're thinking that blue and white unit on the UP eastbound which appears to be 
lettered WC is a DE engine, not so.  That's clearly an SD45 and DE only had SD40;s
and U30C's.  I'm guessing that's a unit painted for Oxford Leasing which was owned
by WC principals and used to provide "ret-a-wrecks".  I believe the engines in that
group were either absorbed by WC, or scrapped.  

You have some really good stuff here and I hope we get to see more of it.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

Thanks for the info.  It looked like a DEEX paint job to me which was the sole info I based that off of.  I was unaware of that particular leasing company.

-Tom

Really enjoyed your videos.  What a mix of locomotives   Thanks for sharing on Train Orders. Gene Bivings TO Mecbiv, Snellville GA 5/23/2015    

That SD45 in Blue, looks to me to be more like MPEX, Boise. Paint matches the one still there at Boise, thta wld be the 9532.  Ben