Railroaders' Nostalgia > The summer of 1976 on the Rock Island

In the spring of 1976 I was studying at Northwestern University's Transportation Center, and looking for a summer job. I wanted to work on a railroad, if possible. Our placement office kept a file of jobs they received from industry, and one day there was a listing that caught my eye. The Rock Island was looking for a summer intern to work in the Purchasing Department. This person's job would be to identify and collect items of value to railfans and collectors, so the railroad could have a big auction (as had Penn Central a couple of years before). Given that I had an undergraduate degree in history, and an interest in railroads, I figured I'd go for it.

And indeed, I got an interview with John Burnett, then VP Purchasing. He was a nice man, and he complemented me by saying, "I saw your resume and figured you were the one we wanted". So I went to work on the 2nd floor at 745 South LaSalle Street, with the Rock Island commuter rush running right past my office window (yes, I had a private office with a window). I was given an entire vacant floor of the LaSalle Street Station headhouse, and five furloughed dining car cooks to help me. Over the next several weeks we moved all sorts of stuff into my "warehouse", carefully catalogueing everything as we went.

I wandered all over the building, which had a Rock Island side and a NYC side. It was almost entirely empty at the time. One poignant memory I have is of pulling open a file drawer in a former NYC office, and having dozens of brochures tumble out. On the cover of each was the slogan, "New York Central -- Road to the Future".

I got to know Tony Haswell, who as director of the Rock's vestigial passenger service had become custodian of several bound volumes of passenger timetables. He was not happy when I took them away to my warehouse. I also got to drink lots of excellent coffee -- when the Rock's dining car service was finally discontinued, the Purchasing Department inherited the remaining stock of Rock Island's custom-blended dining car coffee, and we made a pot of it every morning in the Purchasing Department. Everyone, including Mr. Burnett, took turns cleaning the pot. That was the best office coffee I ever drank.

I got one business trip that summer, not by train, unfortunately. We took a company car to Silvis and Kansas City to check for anything there that I might want to collect. The car had over 100,000 miles on the odometer and a case of Pennzoil in the trunk that was derailment salvage. We were instructed to add a quart every couple of hundred miles, since the car was known to need new rings. At Kansas City, we visited the home of the Chief Storekeeper. We shot pool in his basement rec room. He was drinking bourbon with beer chasers. I asked for some bourbon with soda water and ice cubes. He gave me a look, but made it for me. I drank, and he made another. It didn't taste the same, and I mentioned that to him. He said, "Yeah, I figured you'd like Canadian whiskey better, so I gave you that". Moral: railroad men always drink their bourbon straight.

The intern in the Engineering Department introduced me to the Chief Engineer, a man in his late 20s named Tom Schmidt. Tom later went on to B&O, Chessie, and finally CSX, ending up as a vice president there.

The high point of the summer was lunch with John Barriger. I was one of four summer interns. Others worked in Engineering, in the Operating Department, and on the staff of the Vice President Administration (a man named John Mitros). The four of us heard that John Ingram had hired J.W. Barrager III as "traveling freight agent", and we hatched a plan to take him to lunch. He would have none of it, insisting that *he* would take *us* to lunch at the Union League Club. It was a big change from the usual dives we frequented on Van Buren Street.

Toward the end of the summer, John Ingram hosted a dinner for us at the Chicago Athletic Club. He had intended to hold it on the Rock's last business car, but the car was being fumigated to get rid of mice and roaches (how typical). Hearing Mr. Ingram hold forth on the railroad industry was a rare treat, but not quite as rare as hearing John Barriger talk about saving the Katy.

I learned a lot about railroads that summer, and there is much more to tell, but it gets too long for this format. Maybe I should write a book?

Very interesting. I grew up in Chicago and lived in Rock Island during this time period. I often rode the Quad City Rocket in its last years. The employees worked hard but the railroad was dying under them.

Please post more. That's what this new forum is for.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/12 16:56 by Christo.

Thanks for sharing.

Like many roads in that era, the Rock was an exercise in how much deferred maintenance you could accumulate and still function, sort of.

So please finish the story (if you know the ending). What were some of the most valuable or interesting items you catalogued? Ultimately, was there an auction of the Rock memorabilia? How much money did it raise? Where did most of the stuff end up?

I visited the Union League Club a couple of times at the invitation of railroad execs. The execs and high-level managers from all the Chicago-based roads would get together there, solicalize and compare professional notes. It enabled some diffusion across the industry of good practices. It enabled some to develop contacts helping them to change employers. For example, I suspect it was the main conduit for how a number of high-level Milw Road managers ended up on the ATSF.

Thanks in advance,

Rob L.

shoretower Wrote:
> I learned a lot about railroads that summer, and
> there is much more to tell, but it gets too long
> for this format. Maybe I should write a book?

Wow, this post must be the dust cover. I would like to read the rest of the story.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

Thank you Christo,
I went to work for the Rock in 1972 and worked vigorously until I left in 1976 for the Union Pacific seeing the end at hand and desiring to get to a place where I could start building seniority. I worked every trip I was called for and did all I could to make the people around me happy and proud. In passenger service, as I worked the two Rockets and commuter trains, I always put the riders first and received a nice letter from Merle Bonesteel, then chief passenger agent. I learned a lot in those four years and carried that knowledge on to my career on the UP. Thanks for the fine story. I am glad you got to experience The Rock also.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

I remember a big auction that RI had at La Salle St station sometime after '76 or so... was only in my early teens so couldn't make it, but remember seeing a TRAINS ad about it. IIRC, they even had old baggage carts and other large hardware (station signs) that were sold.
Nice to hear of your dream intern job that summer and can only imagine what that was like. Did you ever eat at the "Track 1" restaurant?" I heard that was how RI kept their old dining car guys on into retirement with a diner and lounge spotted up in the depot during the lunch hour.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/12 22:11 by IC_2024.

Thanks for all the compliments. Answers are:

1) Yes, the Rock had an auction
2) No, I don't remember how much money they raised, but a friend attended and bought me six tablecloths and 36 napkins, which I still have, with white-on-white Rock Island logos.
3) Track 1 disappeared along with the dining cars on the two Rockets a few months before I started working there, so no, I didn't ever eat there. But the two cars were semi-permanently in that location, and served both lunch and dinner.
4) Sorry, Todd, to give you just the "dust jacket". Maybe I should do an article some time.

After 1976, the Rock lasted another five years. I went to Washington, DC after grad school to work for the AAR (another story altogether) and was with USRA in Washington when the clerks went out on strike and the ICC issued a Directed Service order to Kansas City Terminal Railway to operate the Rock. That operation lasted into early 1981, when Judge McGarr finally agreed to the pleadings of Henry Crown's lawyers (Crown owned a lot of Rock Island stock) and shut the Rock down for good.

I have a framed Rock Island stock certificate, for 1,000 shares, on which the name of Henry Crown, although Xed out, can still be clearly read. I daresay that certificate cost Mr. Crown a good deal more than the $9.95 I paid.

shoretower Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> After 1976, the Rock lasted another five years.

> ... the clerks went out
> on strike and the ICC issued a Directed Service
> order to Kansas City Terminal Railway to operate
> the Rock. That operation lasted into early 1981,
> when Judge McGarr finally agreed to the pleadings
> of Henry Crown's lawyers (Crown owned a lot of
> Rock Island stock) and shut the Rock down for
> good.
>

I think you are off by a year. Wasn't it early 1980 when the Rock shut down?

Crown made out pretty well, the Rock was indeed worth more dead than alive (for him anyway).

Best regards,

Rob L.

SP bought the Tucumcari-KC and was running it in March, 1980. ICC ordered various lines to provide service in 1979

rantoul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great story synopsis. Makes me recall a family
> friend who in the 1960's worked for Rock Island at
> LaSalle Street. Sometimes we got to visit at
> lunch time. We knew her title as 'Rating Clerk',
> work involved allocating the revenue amongst the
> railroads that handled a load. Papers spread
> around a steel table/desk, many with each handling
> railroad's logo, adding machine at elbow, file
> cabinets around. As a kid, I was in awe, and
> during my life often think of her work for the
> Rock Island. Your story took me right back to the
> side of her desk, the sight/sounds/smell.

More like a Division of Revenue clerk

WAF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> rantoul Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Great story synopsis. Makes me recall a family
> > friend who in the 1960's worked for Rock Island
> at
> > LaSalle Street. Sometimes we got to visit at
> > lunch time. We knew her title as 'Rating
> Clerk',
> > work involved allocating the revenue amongst
> the
> > railroads that handled a load. Papers spread
> > around a steel table/desk, many with each
> handling
> > railroad's logo, adding machine at elbow, file
> > cabinets around. As a kid, I was in awe, and
> > during my life often think of her work for the
> > Rock Island. Your story took me right back to
> the
> > side of her desk, the sight/sounds/smell.
>
> More like a Division of Revenue clerk

Which, in the old days, was separate from a Rate Clerk, which was separate from a Waybilling Clerk, which was separate from a Car Clerk, which was separate from a Demurrage Clerk, which was separate from a Switch Clerk...

No kidding. Life in traffic in the 60s

Where can I plunk down a deposit on that book? More please!!!

NZ