The Rock Island Line

Title Page, About the Series, Copyright, Dedication

The Rock Island Line Railroads Past and Present George M. Smerk, Editor A list of books in the series appears at the end of this volume. The Rock Island Line BILL MARVEL INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS Bloomington and Indianapolis This book is a publication of Indiana University Press Office of Scholarly Publishing Herman B Wells Library 350 1320 East 10th Street Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931© 2013 by Bill Marvel All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America Cataloging information is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-0-253-01127-5 (cloth) ISBN 978-0-253-01131-2 (eb) 1 2 3 4 5 18 17 16 15 14 13 Front cover: E8 No. 648 rattles the diamonds at Joliet Union Station, 40 miles out of La Salle Street, with the Peorian. In April 1971, No. 12 still offers dining car service between La Salle Street and its namesake destination. Ed Kanak Endpapers: This system map shows Rock Island’s reach at its full extent, in the 1950s when lines stretched from South Dakota wheatlands deep into bayou country and from Lake Michigan to the New Mexico desert. Surprisingly much remains today, operated either by regional carriers or by onetime merger prospect Union Pacific. Author collection Frontis: In 1960, the Rock issued their annual report with this spectacular cover art. Author collection Title pages: Making a wonderful clatter, U28B No. 256 leads the eight units on Train 82 away from Denver on February 2, 1969. The show of force is unnecessary, since the eastbound line is mostly downhill, but traffic imbalances often leave surplus units at the western end of the system. Bill Marvel Back cover: Bumped from jockeying passenger cars, its main work since it was built by EMC in 1942, SW1 No. 536 has been sold to Producers Grain in Amarillo and still finds useful work kicking rusty grain hoppers around an elevator in Plainview in the Texas Panhandle. Tom Kline ∞ For Donna This page intentionally left blank The Rock Island Line is mighty good road The Rock Island Line is the road to ride. —attributed to huddie william (lead belly) ledbetter This page intentionally left blank ...