The Rock Island Arsenal Historical Society is the private support organization of the Rock Island Arsenal Museum. In 1947, both the Rock Island and Southern Pacific jointly advertised the coming of a new entry in the Chicago-Los Angeles travel market. The old Rock Island track that runs between Peoria and Bureau, IL, is used by Iowa Interstate Railroad. Rock Island hired a new president and CEO, John W. Ingram, a former Federal Railway Administration (FRA) official. To the west, it reached Denver, Colorado, and Santa Rosa, New Mexico. In 2015 the Kansas Humanities Council awarded a grant to the Wabaunsee County Historical Society to fund an exhibition of photography by Volland, Kansas shopkeeper and photographer, Otto Kratzer. It is somewhat surprising that the Rock did not continue beyond New Mexico and establish its own transcontinental route given the company's strong financing at the time and the syndicate's desire to do so. The state of Illinois also forced it to continue running its money-losing commuter trains throughout the Chicago area. Raising money in this manner normally carried mixed results but enthusiasm for the railroad turned out to be quite high and by November of 1850 the needed $300,0… In 1964, a merger was agreed upon with Union Pacific to assure the Rock's survival. On the right are three spans of the bridge over the Slough between the island and the City of Rock Island on the Illinois shore. The railroad expanded through construction and acquisitions in the following decades.[2]. The Rock Island slowly inched towards a financial break-even point, despite the financial malaise that plagued the late 1970s. Despite the fact that Rock Island management had been able to move 80% of pre-strike tonnage, at the behest of the Carter Administration, the ICC declared a transportation emergency, finding that the Rock Island would not be able to move the 1979 grain harvest to market. Its predecessor, the Rock Island and La Salle Railroad Company, was incorporated in Illinois on February 27, 1847, and an amended charter was approved on February 7, 1851, as the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad. In one of the industry's great ironies, most of the railroad's principal routes survive today. The Kansas City-Tucumcari Golden State Route would be sold to the Southern Pacific. Known as the Chicago & South Western Railway construction began in 1869 from the end-of-track at Washington, Iowa with intentions of reaching Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He loathed ignorance and brought quick retribution upon anyone who could not thoroughly answer questions. Photo courtesy Wabaunsee County Historical Society. Without question, Farrington was the Rock Island's greatest leader. Ultimately, the railroad … This October 13, 1852 article from the Chicago Daily Democrat (now the Chicago Tribune) tells the story … During the 1980s, private attempts to rejuvenate it were unsuccessful, including the Greater QC Railway Historical Society, which took steps to open a railroad museum in1986. Warren Calloway collection. Minnesota Historical Society, Division of Archives and Manuscripts: referencedIn: Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. The USRA Light Mikado was a USRA standard class of steam locomotive designed under the control of the United States Railroad Administration, the nationalized railroad system in the United States during World War I.This was the standard light freight locomotive of the USRA types, and was of 2-8-2 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, or 1′D1′ in UIC classification. Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railroad LLC Cabooseless grain shuttles were one cost effective way to gain market share and help finance the plan internally. The main line trains supplanted the long-distance services that did not stop at the numerous stations on that route. With no where else to turn the railroad entered bankruptcy protection on March 17, 1975. You will be hard pressed at finding a better online resource regarding diesel locomotives than Craig Rutherford's TheDieselShop.us. In 1937, the Rock Island introduced Diesel power to its passenger service, with the purchase of six lightweight Rocket streamliners. Trains slowly began to move, with more traffic being hauled every week of the strike. With the pace of construction it appeared the C&RI would soon establish itself as one of the Midwest's premier systems. 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