Nostalgia & History > Rock Island train questions

I am getting a train simulator and wanted some more info on some Rock Island trains I may try to recreate electronically.

First off, train #57, the hot auto parts train. I want as much info on it as anybody wants to share. What was typical power, types and number of cars, length, tonnage, etc?

Next, the Laffayette coal train. What kind of coal cars were used? How long was a typical coal train? Other than the famous GP9, F7B combo, was any other power used? I'm looking at modeling a hypothetical 1980s RI coal train, too. What kinds of coal cars did the Rock Island have in their fleet already, and what might they have acquired in the 1980s?

Did the Rock Island ever run any unit grain trains on its Denver mainline? Did they ever run any unit wheat trains?

Dylan VanAntwerp
Jesup, IA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/15 17:23 by RI_SD40-2_4790.

Trains mag ran a good story on the auto parts train in the past 5 years or so. IIRC the photos showed it with 3 or 4 U-Boats.

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> Trains mag ran a good story on the auto parts
> train in the past 5 years or so. IIRC the photos
> showed it with 3 or 4 U-Boats.

I've read a portion of that article, which I found online. Seems like a very informative piece, and I would love to read the rest someday. I suppose I could have left consist info out of my question. Everything I have read or seen shows that GE U-boats where by far the most common power. However, info and photos on the train are so sparse some things remain a little grey. For example, did power change at Silvis? Were U-boats common all the way across Iowa to Omaha? Any other power get swapped in?

Dylan VanAntwerp
Jesup, IA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/15 18:25 by RI_SD40-2_4790.

I'd love to refer to the article and fill you in, but I pitched all my Trains mags in a recent move. :(

Hello Dylan,

Since you've mentioned you're from Jesup, my father's boyhood home, I'll gladly help you any way I can.  :-)

First off, what type of simulation will it be, dispatching, train sim, other?

I believe I'll be able to provide most of what you're looking for but I'll ask that you narrow this down to a single subdivision and year that you'd like to focus on for your simulation, at least to start off.  Without that, it'll be too difficult to provide answers since there's so much info available; RI's Chicago - Denver mainline was so different from one sub to another; and the RR changed so much from 1970 to 1980.  You get the idea...

One other thing to ask.  How concerned are you with making it realistic?  Are you going to enhance things quite a bit to add traffic volume and "spice things up", that sort of thing?  Just wondering if you'll be basing it heavily on actual data or mostly "fantasy" assumptions (I don't mean that in a bad way...) that'll make it less realistic but more interesting to use.

Take care,

Mark



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/15 19:35 by mamfahr.

A very interesting train No. 57 was.  The Trains article had good photos, but also highly recommend Rob Leachman's photos on TO.  Besides 8 door hi cube auto boxes (GM cars) and std 50' boxes for engines and the like, many interesting auto transporters including Vert-a-pacs (Vegas), Stac-pacs (Cadillacs) as well as bi & tri-levels.

Rob also had a very good article in CTC Board back in the late 90s on the FAST and ARRO/57 auto parts trains.

Posted from Android

mamfahr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello Dylan,
>
> Since you've mentioned you're from Jesup, my
> father's boyhood home, I'll gladly help you any
> way I can.  :-)
>
> First off, what type of simulation will it be,
> dispatching, train sim, other?
>
> I believe I'll be able to provide most of what
> you're looking for but I'll ask that you narrow
> this down to a single subdivision and year that
> you'd like to focus on for your simulation, at
> least to start off.  Without that, it'll be too
> difficult to provide answers since there's
> so much info available; RI's Chicago - Denver
> mainline was so different from one sub to another;
> and the RR changed so much from 1970 to 1980. 
> You get the idea...
>
> One other thing to ask.  How concerned are you
> with making it realistic?  Are you going to
> enhance things quite a bit to add traffic volume
> and "spice things up", that sort of thing?  Just
> wondering if you'll be basing it heavily on actual
> data or mostly "fantasy" assumptions (I don't
> mean that in a bad way...) that'll make it less
> realistic but more interesting to use.
>
> Take care,
>
> Mark

Sure Mark, here is what I'm attempting.  I have an alt-history, post 1980 Rock Island in my head that I would like to bring to life, similar to what Red did a few years ago.  I am getting Microsoft Train Simulator, since it seems like it might be the easiest route to go.  I'll need to find individuals who can help bring what I have in my head to life, and MSTS seems to still have an active community of modders.

Obviously since I'm creating a total work of fiction, I am not heavily welded to realism, but I do want to keep it somewhat grounded.  This is why I'm interested in getting a better picture of what the railroad was like in the 1970s, as it helps me get a better picture of what the 1980s could have been like.  I also want to recreate a few of the 1970s trains in a halfway realistic manner, just on a healthier railroad.

So I guess I don't need absolute precise data.  I looking for something a little more generic.  Lets say you were in Joliet in 1973 and #57 rolled by.  What would it likely look like?  How many engines, how many cars and what types, roughly?

To better narrow down another question, what I was asking was did the Rock ever run grain trains anywhere between Denver and KC/Omaha?  Basically, in the area which is now the modern day KYLE, did the Rock ever run unit grain trains?  If so, what were they?  Again, I just need a rough idea, so I can model a 1980s successor with some sort of realistic flare.

Dylan VanAntwerp
Jesup, IA

Dylan, it depends on which era you are looking to simulate. It sounds to me like you are looking at the period when I worked for the Rock for 4 years. In was there out of Chicago from 1972-76 before going to the UP. Train 57 began its journey out of South Chicago yard in the mornings. I was working the brakeman's extra board and then the conductor's extra board so I got to work out of several locations. Train 57 would start out of South Chicago yard in the mornings, usually around 10-11  am. It would go to Burr Oak yard in Blue Island and make a pick up there. Then it departed for Silvis, Illinois and Kelly Yard. Often at Silvis the power would change. Out of South Chicago the power would require a cab signal equipped unit on the point, sometimes an F-7, and a variety of power trailing. In my timebooks I have various consists. The car count generally was around 40-50 cars with some trains having as many as 75 cars.

The Lafayette mine trains would have the unique set of GP9's and F-7B's but occasionally one of the Geeps would be replaced by a GE when it was out of service for monthly inspections or repairs. The consist was 1331-10-12-13-1332. The coal cars were the standard old hoppers and would be 30-50 cars in length.

I didn't log the loads, empties and tons in my time book. That would have been in the conductors consist books which I do not have anymore as I didn't work as conductor a lot.

Good luck with your simulation of the Rock. It was a good training ground for working on the other railroads.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

> Sure Mark, here is what I'm attempting.  I have
> an alt-history, post 1980 Rock Island in my head
> that I would like to bring to life,

> Obviously since I'm creating a total work of
> fiction, I am not heavily welded to realism, but I
> do want to keep it somewhat grounded. 

Dylan,

I have all of the "actual" RI information you could ever want (from RI dispatcher's sheets, wheel reports, Supt office documents, etc) but I'm afraid that won't be of much help in creating a "post-1980 alt-history" world, since the actual RI was gone by then. 

Needless to say, if you go with 100% replication of actual RI history (that I and others could provide plenty of info about) - you'll be simulating nothing by 1980, so that obviously isn't the way to go...

It seems what you're wanting should be something built up from the assumptions you want to apply that would have kept the RI alive & well in 1980.  Things like "RI won several coal contracts to power plants in E. Iowa / Illinois / N. Indiana", the "California auto plants stayed open, operating at full capacity", "several unit-grain loading elevators are constructed along the RI in Iowa/Nebraska", "land-bridge container and/or TOFC service was started in conjunction with UP", "the perishable traffic stayed with the RI rather than shifting to the CNW", and so on.  Once you have those assumptions nailed down then you could make further assumptions on cartypes, locomotives, schedules, etc that would result, building up from there until you have the "alt-history" world you're looking for.    

It sounds like an interesting project but it seems that actual RI info won't be of much use, since your timeframe and assumptions are so different frown what actually played out in the real world.  If you do develop assumptions like those mentioned above and need help with cartypes, etc, let me know and I can provide some 1980/81 wheel reports and similar documents (from UP, CNW operating in the same corridor...) that you can use if you'd like.

Take care & good luck with your project,

Mark