The Rock Island Line

Chapter 5: The Road to Ride

Freshly painted in the striking yellow-stripe scheme, No. 662, an ex–Union Pacific E9A, slows for the stop at 115th Street in Morgan Park. By October 1970, Rock Island’s double-track suburban line is showing signs of neglect. Paul Dolkos 107 Chapter Five The Road to Ride The Rock Island was usually not the shortest, nor the fastest, nor the most prosperous railroad between the cities it served. So it had to try harder. Even in the worst of times, the railroad did its best to field a fleet that gave passengers a run for their money. And when times were flush, the Rock Island often ran ahead of the pack. It was among the first with onboard dining and streamliners. It innovated restlessly, if not always wisely. Its trains might run in the red, especially toward the end, but they ran. As soon as the track was down and open for business in 1852, two daily trains left Chicago for Joliet. Within months the dozen passenger cars provided by contractors Henry Farnam and Joseph Sheffield could no longer meet demand, and 16 additional cars were ordered. Trains ran full, hauling passengers from Chicago’s passenger house to the end of track, wherever that might be. By 1856 the road was advertised “the Shortest, Quickest and Safest Route” to Kansas and Nebraska—though it had reached neither destination. The roadbed was raw, the 108 crude wooden benches were hard, but tens of thousands of immigrants were already riding Rock Island trains on the first leg of their journeys to the Great American Frontier. Within the decade, they would ship their produce to eastern markets via Rock Island. Accommodations softened. By the mid-1880s, “The Great Rock Island Route” promised patrons “the finest reclining chair cars in the world” and “that sense of personal security offered by a solid, thoroughly ballasted roadbed.” Two daily trains ran all the way to Council Bluffs. Others fanned out to Minneapolis (via Minneapolis & St. Louis), Kansas City, and other points on the growing system. A pioneer in onboard meal service west of Chicago, the road placed its first dining car in operation in May 1877. With the 1888 completion of its Colorado line, the road announced meal service on its allvestibule Denver train, igniting a brief but vigorous “dining car war” with Union Pacific and Burlington. Those roads enjoyed the faster and more direct routes. If Rock Island could not outrun its competitors, it could match them luxury for luxury. In 1898 the road inaugurated Trains 41 and 42, the Above: Rock Island’s own territorial ambitions lay in the future in June 1870, when the road promoted itself in the pages of the Travelers’ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines in the United States & Canada as the “Central Short Line” between Chicago and the “Great Overland Route.” Lines to Atchison and Kansas City, as yet unbuilt, appeared on its map but not in its timetables. Author collection Opposite: In summer 1870, Rock Island offered two overnight trains a day each way between Chicago and its Union Pacific connection at Council Bluffs, plus Chicago–Peru and Des Moines–Council Bluffs accommodations. Hungry passengers could look forward to meal stops at Bureau, Davenport, and Avoca. Author collection 109 110 Rocky Mountain Limited, offering 28-hour 30-minute service to Denver/Colorado Springs. Pullman-built equipment included chair cars, Palace sleeping cars, buffet-library cars, and a 64-foot diner. The price of a meal was 75 cents. By 1902, the schedule had been cut to 24 hours. With completion of the Santa Rosa line and connection with the El Paso & Northeastern the same year, the road introduced the Golden State Limited, offering first-class service to California. By 1912 passengers were treated to daily Victrola recitals in the parlor car, while daily news updates were available by wire. Later known simply as the Golden State, it remained Rock Island’s flagship almost to the end. By 1916 travelers out of Chicago could choose from 10 daily east-west trains, all of Like several Chicago railroads in the 1890s, Rock Island acquired a small fleet of “Forney” suburban tank engines to handle growing commuter business. With the arrival of steel coaches, the six “teakettles,” as riders called them—not always affectionately—were replaced by Atlantics, Ten-Wheelers, and finally Pacifics. Author collection Somewhere on...