Nostalgia & History > Southern Pacific on the Rock

Been scanning some Bill Riebe slides and found a few to share with you good folks on TO. Southern Pacific power roamed on the Rock Island quite a bit in the 1970s. The very first SP engine I recall ever seeing was on a Rock Island EB at Menlo, IA back in 1977. I was 8 at the time and the only time I ever saw SP power was in TRAINS.  

1. 6715 heads north with a smoking RI U Boat at Des Moines. Photo is the Dean Ave crossing north of Short Line Tower. 

2. 8493 rests in the Short Line engine terminal in June 1978. 

3. 8512 and a RI U Boat lead a WB train at Seymour IA on the Golden State in December 1978. Photos of this line are hard to find. Seems like no one ever went Eldon(division point) and around there very much. All of this is gone today. 

All photos from Bill Riebe. Thanks for looking. 

MILW86A 

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Thanks for putting these on. It shows that the Rock needed newer power in the Seventies, not just rebuilt lower HP Geeps and a few high HP emd & GEs. As for photos, it seems once the Rock turned toward Eldon and onto KC that photographers hardly ever went following after them, maybe get some shots at Trenton. and the same for the past and  present day Spine Line, shots from Des Moines to Allerton are hard to find, steam or diesel. I wonder how many HP hours the RI owed the SP at the end on 1980? KCRW287

Brings back good memories of getting SP power at Wilton Jct., Ia. during the early seventies.  Wish I could revisit those days!

They came to the SP, quite a bit in the 70s according to Train Orders issued

Wonder if the 8512 is being delivered in service, it's fairly clean looking. And was built in Nov 78.

GLC Wrote:
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> Wonder if the 8512 is being delivered in service,
> it's fairly clean looking. And was built in Nov
> 78.

Could be Im using the date stamp on the slide as Mr Riebe didnt put exact dates on most of his slides.
MILW86A 

ROCK used SP units coming from EMD in revenue service and on the point

The SP 8512 has definitely been hijacked on it's delivery run on the CRIP. I believe the CRIP regularly took the opportunity to do that with SP/SSW power. Those units must have seemed like a blessing for most of the CRIP crews that had to otherwise live with worn out power such as the U25B that follows the new 8512.

> The SP 8512 has definitely been hijacked on it's delivery run on the CRIP. I believe the CRIP
> regularly took the opportunity to do that with SP/SSW power. 

Howdy,

I don't believe we'd know if that one had been "hijacked", since it's on a train headed directly along its normal delivery route from Chicago to the SP at Tucumcari.  Now, when you saw the new SP units up in northern Iowa or Inver Grove, you knew they'd been borrowed...

Take care,

Mark