Nostalgia & History > TOTO Tuesday: Rock Me Gently

By the mid 70s, the idea of chasing trains on the Rock Island around the Manhattan area had gone a little over to the hysterical side. And the term "chase" was a huge misnomer. The physical condition of the McFarland to Belleville branch through my home town had deteriorated so badly that train speeds were hardly ever over 10 MPH. And there must have been stretches where crews would slow to 5 MPH or less: I suspect voluntarily.

Here's a very plausible string of events:
You could be on the way home from Topeka on Interstate 70 and spot a Belleville bound train at McFarland. You could very easily grab a shot or two between McFarland & the Interstate, the head on home the 20-some miles to Manhattan. You could then sit down at any downtown restaurant and dine on a full course meal, then run up 3rd St to grab an ice cream cone. From there it was back downtown to the Rock Island-UP crossing to hang around for the train and get a few more shots. Then you cold run a couple of errands, drive the 8 miles to Keats and set up for your final shots. elapsed time: 3 to 4 hours... (been there, done that)

just the facts, ma'am:
1. CRI&P 4306 is on an EB manifest on the Eastward Main at McFarland. This part of the Herington-Topeka DT main is still in decent shape so trains might go as fast as 30 MPH.
date: January 11, 1977 (by Daniel J. Codespoti)

2. CRI&P 4315 leads a WB manifest over the UP crossing in Manhattan. This is my very first personal glimpse of the brand-new "ROCK" paint scheme. It seemed a little gaudy at the time.
date: November 15, 1976

3. CRI&P 4343 on the point of a WB train at Keats. Everything in this photo is now long gone. The railroad, the the paint scheme, the tracks & the elevator. All now a part of history! I would hope the station sign found a good home somewhere...
date: April 14, 1977

(In July of '74 Andy Kim's song "Rock Me Gently" went #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart.)

Thanks for humming along with me!

Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/22 06:09 by santafe199.

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I came along way too late to ever see any Rock Island. I remember being able to see parts of the ROW through Manhattan. Thanks for sharing these, Lance!

Nice stuff. I don't think "rock me gently" applied to the rock. It seemed much more violent, at least around Ft Worth.

You're very welcome! TOTO has "lots & lots" of morsels in the food dish we will be exploring in the coming posts. It's my responsibility to share what I lived through & saw & shot from 30-40 years ago. And I will really enjoy doing just that.

Just keep one thing in mind, always. Those very rare C 44s you young guys are shooting right now: Someday soon, YOU will be showing your pics to a 17 year budding photographer, who waxes poetic about "coming along way too late to have the thrill of seeing them in action". And one other thing, as you shoot day to day be sure to record ALL info possible, From date & location to personal observations & amusing anecdotes. You photography careers will be much richer for it. I promise!

Lance



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/15 08:14 by santafe199.

tomstp Wrote:
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> I don't think "rock me gently"
> applied to the rock. It seemed much more violent...

So true! Problem is, Andy Kim never produced the sequel: "Rock Me Violently". He could have learned from Harry Chapin... Even so, during the 5 short years I got to shoot the Rock Island as an adult, I'm amazed I never got to shoot a derailment 'as it happened'.

Lance



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/16 16:43 by santafe199.

What line would 'Keats' be on, or possible locations that would be near it? Although the blue and white was bright, it added some color to a ROCK finale!

Keats, KS is a tiny little burg about 8 miles west of downtown Manhattan. It's on (extended) Anderson Avenue & is located right on the NE edge of the Ft. Riley reservation. The line in question is the branch line connection between the "Golden State Limited" route at McFarland, KS & the "Rocky Mountain Rocket" route at Belleville, KS. Notable towns on the branch include Manhattan, Riley, Clay Center & Morganville. I have shots at these locations plus a few at tiny Zeandale (E of...) & Keats (W of Manhattan).

Lance



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/17 19:07 by santafe199.

Very nice, Lance. In #2, is that the UP in the foreground or is the power about to cross it? Where is this in relation to where the depot was/is?

Jim

switchlock Wrote:
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> Where is this in relation to where the depot
> was/is?
>
> Jim

The 4315 has just crossed the UP main (foreground) and the site of the former CRI&P depot is 2 or 3 blocks ahead on the right hand side. So far, I haven't run across a shot of it in Bill's slide collection, but my fingers are crossed... (The caboose right behind the power may have been a set-out for some eminent on-line work train, or it likely would've been on the rear end.)

Lance



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/17 19:07 by santafe199.

D'oh! Thanks. I should have specified the UP depot. That was probably to the just to the right of the power then?

Yipper! Where I'm standing for the shot would be a couple of hundred yards west of
the UP depot, and today pretty close to the intersection where you make the RH turn
off Ft. Riley Blvd* to circle back up & over to get on K-177 South.
*The Manhattan Zoning & Planning gang SHOULD have named it "Rock Island Avenue" as it
goes RIGHT UP the old CRI&P right of way, but I really can't complain.
They DID save the UP depot... (see photo:)

I thought I'd pretty well covered every possible angle of this nicely restored depot,
but you'll have to take a look at the advance "Junction City/Jct I-70/Zeandale" sign.
It's also giving you advance notice of where I stood for the shot in '76. The track is
a stub left in place and, near as I can tell, the curve still has the original banking.
You are looking SSW (RR west) in this scene.

photo date: October 20, 2010

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santafe199 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You're very welcome! TOTO has "lots & lots" of
> morsels in the food dish we will be
> exploring in the coming posts. It's my
> responsibility to share what I lived through
> & saw & shot from 30-40 years ago. And I will
> really enjoy doing just that.
>
> Just keep one thing in mind, always. Those very
> rare C 44s you young guys are
> shooting right now: Someday soon, YOU will be
> showing your pics to a 17 year budding
> photographer, who waxes poetic about "coming along
> way too late to have the thrill
> of seeing them in action". And one other thing, as
> you shoot day to day be sure to
> record ALL info possible, From date & location to
> personal observations & amusing
> anecdotes. You photography careers will be much
> richer for it. I promise!
>
> Lance


"Kid, ya just screwed around & got born too late"

Wonderful shots! I love seeing Rock Island shots around Manhattan.