Nostalgia & History > BW Rock Island image for a location

Here’s an interesting B/W print I scanned from the Jim Watson collection a while back. I need some location help. And I’m just guessing “circa 1950s” for a date.

1. CRI&P 1298 at Newport, MN* sometime in the 1950s(?).
B/W print from the James W. Watson collection, photographer is unknown.

Thanks for the help!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

*Got some fantastic location Rx!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/25 10:06 by santafe199.

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Excellent view!
Bob

Nice to see the Rock in happier days.
Go

Here we go....

Eastbound train on Milwaukee Road/Main 2 at Red Rock about to cross 21st Street.  RI transfer is just west of Newport Tower - Newport, MN - a suburb of St. Paul.  Train will reach home rails at Newport Tower, cross the Mississippi, and head for Inver Grove Yard.  Off to the right of the train is CB&Q/Main 1.

John P. Kohlberg

Here are coordinates for the location specified by icgspartadistrict: 44.8797283,-93.0046826   As far as a timeline, the overpass in the background is for Interstate 494.  The earliest segment of Interstate 494 to be completed was the Wakota bridge over the Mississippi River about a quarter mile to the west (to the left in the photo), and that was finished in 1959.  A 1961 Minnesota official road map is the first to show IH 494 completed in this area, and the earthwork looks pretty fresh along US 10/61 that parallels that Q & Milwaukee in this area over on the right side of the photo, so circa 1960 would be a good date for this photo, in my estimation.

Matthew

Well I never would have gotten that one!  I was trying to place it in KS but couldn't come up with anything.  I was pretty sure that it wasn't actually on the RI though with that power crossover.  Thanks for the location John!

Andy

AndyBrown Wrote: " . . . Thanks for the location John! . . . "

He did a mighty fine job ID'ing the location. When I first saw the photo before reading the replies, I saw the Griswold signal which brought Wisconsin to mind.  I knew RI didn't go to Wisconsin, and I scrolled through the replies.  John's answer got my attention, as I railfanned this area in October 2009 when SP 4449 was returning from Michigan, so I had a feel of how the area looked, and going back to the photo, noticing details such as the Q's main that I did not see at first glance, his answer felt right.  All that said, I have this question: did the Rock Island itself employ Griswold crossing signals and, whether RI did or not, how far south and west of Minnesota were Griswold signals used?

Matthew

This RI #1298 appears to be outfitted with the typical steam generator & top air tanks.  Based on these fixtures, I'm guessing this scene was nowhere in the state of Illinois.  On what has been said by icgspartadistrict and Roadmaster, I'm satisfied with that determined.  
Looking at the overpass construction area, the truck appears as something out of the post WWII, latter 1940's.  The smaller vehicle parked to the right of it I'm unsure of, but it nearly appears as a 1952-55 Ford model.  These RI "Geeps" although with the steam generators, were sometimes seen in freight operations on the Golden State Route in Southwest Kansas in the early 1960's with the later simplified maroon scheme.  Some years before they occasionally were seen on a freight in their previous dress.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/25 20:52 by rrman6.

Earlier this morning a photo popped in my head of a RI GP7 in factory paint headed towards Pigs Eye Yard; I found the photo on my computer and it was a photo of 1298 taken by none other than Marty Bernard.  I found the photo here on TO; it is #6 in this post: https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,4717969,4717970#msg-4717970  Note that the year of Marty's photo is 1964, so I wonder if the date of the photo posted by Lance is closer to 1964 than 1960, or if 1298 was assigned to Inver Grove, where Rock Island's yard was on the south side of St. Paul, for several years.

Matthew

icgspartadistrict Wrote: > ... Here we go ...

Wow!!! What a great job, with extra info I never expected. Thank you very much! And thank you "Roadmaster" for your special input, as well! This is exactly why TO is the best railfan website going! :^)

Lance