Nostalgia & History > Blue Monday: Quartet of bankruptcy blue

Here’s a slide I obtained from long time friend & fellow Santa Fe man John LaGesse. He got the slide years ago in trade from mutual friend and early Santa Fe man Gary Rich who just passed away last fall. Normally I would have used this image to create a Maroon Monday thread to showcase another Rock Island scene. But when I saw this 4 unit consist was all bankrupt blue I had to run with Blue Monday instead. We all know how ‘bankrupt blue’ was a favorite term used by detractors when talking about the ROCK’s valiant attempt to stave off the ultimate bitter end. Although meaning no ill will, I remember using the term myself several times back in those early days of my railfan photography.

Another interesting note about the consist: Although the Rock Island never came anywhere close to the performance of Santa Fe’s world-class Super C, the engine lineup recalls the standard consist I remember seeing back in my 1974 m.o.w. days in ATSF employ. In those days a standard Super C consist was 4 big & usually clean SD45-2s: 2 facing forward followed by 2 facing reward. Standard. Certainly no hint of bankruptcy there…

1. CRI&P 4304 leads 3 more recently acquired GP38-2s on a manifest running over the UP out of Denver, CO in July of 1978.
Photo by Gary Rich, from the John LaGesse collection

Thanks for looking so blue!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
John LaGesse (atsfer)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/22 00:02 by santafe199.

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I know not everybody like the blue, but I think its a mean looking scheme.  That shot makes the RI look like the 1st class operation it should have been.

It's an eye catching scheme for sure.  Things in the photo look better than they were, what with only 2 years left?
 

I didn't mind the blue at all.
Great shot.
Gary

The Rock is actually running over it's own track here approaching Monaco street from the west, the hill to the left would shed some dirt when it rained making the Rock have to run into 36st on the UP occasionally



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/20 08:03 by dan.

dan Wrote: > ...  actually running over it's own track here approaching Monaco street ...

Thanks, I did not know that. I thought the Rock Island just had a small yard, and did all their running between Denver & Limon over the UP...

Lance/199

train had left  rio grande's north yard on the belt line, passed underneath the  Q line to chicago and then the UP line to Cheyenne close together, then the rock trackage  where the train is pictured, with the Rock's small Duban yard ahead, that unloaded many fords, then Sand creek junction and UP's KP line north of stapleton

Really nice shot.
JB

This is a fantastic photograph.  

Never saw a quartet of blue low nosed units together before. And they look clean! I would have chased this sucker through a roll of ilm.

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD