Cab Units Meet Hood Units (F's Meet Geeps) on the Rock Island Lines

[@JosephMusgrove]

Grew up in the 1970s in Central Arkansas and was lucky enough to see an occasional Rock Island freight crossing the Arkansas River. Sadly the railroad was in extremely rough shape by that time. Remember asking my dad why the train was moving so slow. He explained the track was in bad shape so it had to.

[@johnhuck7203]

Brings back memories. Thanks for sharing. Great modeling.

[@rimodeler7963]

Thank you very much! Mike

[@sunnysiderails397]

Love the layout and the weathering on the locos looks excellent!!! -Ken

[@rimodeler7963]

Thank you very much! Mike

[@Perfusionist01]

It's always fun to see your layout in action!

[@rimodeler7963]

Thanks for watching and for your comment. Mike

[@elsdp-4560]

Thank you for sharing. Very much enjoyed.👍

[@rimodeler7963]

Thank you, Gary. Always great to hear from you! Mike

[@bryanzsjsn123]

Rock island was a good railroad They had rock and roll trains.

[@raycooney7632]

That’s the Rock I remember. Great work.

[@rimodeler7963]

Thanks much for watching and commenting. I appreciate it! Mike

[@danasoroko]

Once again, I enjoy viewing your model railroad and am struck by the attention to detail--even in the salvage yards. In my foolishness, I thought that the RI never came up with a uniform way to paint their motive power and freight cars. However on brief reflection neither did the behemoths PRR and SP! You can be very proud of your railroad. Thanks for making the video.

[@rimodeler7963]

I appreciate your comments and thank you for taking the time to watch the video. Mike

[@NRS8400]

Great video as always and beautiful article in this months RMC. Great to see a prototype layout featured. -Neil

[@rimodeler7963]

Thank you very much, Neil. I believe your CP Rail model railroad is one of the finest I've seen on KZbin. Your modeling skills are top notch ........ 5 stars! It was great to see your work get the recognition it deserves in the September 2021 RMC. Mike

[@NRS8400]

@@rimodeler7963 Thanks Mike, appreciate that and same to you. keep the videos coming!

[@dan2304k]

Really nice work. Thanks for sharing!

[@rimodeler7963]

Thank you! Mike

[@J3scribe]

Always a pleasure to get the opportunity to see your fine layout. I never fail to be impressed by all your hard work, especially the way you have captured the undulating terrain of the region. Top notch, Mike. And the Burlington cement (?) hoppers, very unusual. I'd love to find some in N scale but I doubt that will ever come to pass. Thanks for sharing!

[@rimodeler7963]

The Burlington cement hoppers are known as "whale belly hoppers" and the two I have are brass models. I remember seeing them on the CB&Q in the late 1960's and 1970's. You're correct, they are an unusual car and few railroads had them (CB&Q, Seaboard Air Line, and Dragon Products .... that I'm aware of). Thank you very much for your comments! Mike

[@bigvanillasmooth6772]

Absolutely excellent content! I really enjoy your Rock Island layout videos! Great job!

[@rimodeler7963]

Thanks so much for your kind comments! Mike

[@jerrywikstrom2431]

Nice video Mike! I can only dream of 55mph main. If i did that it would be either a cloud of dust getting kicked from the wheels or from everything going on the ground.

[@rimodeler7963]

Thank, Jerry. I understand 🙂. Mike

[@MLWQC]

Great video and very nice sound.

[@rimodeler7963]

Thank you very much …… I appreciate it! Mike

[@davidbrown4823]

That was a great meet video.

[@rimodeler7963]

Thank you! Mike

[@tomschmidt3165]

Very well done. Nice layout also.

[@rimodeler7963]

Thank you! Mike

[@davidl.miller8168]

Mike, Awesome as always, thank you for sharing. What are the four container like items on the flat car just ahead of the caboose on train #65? Keep up the great work and God Bless

[@rimodeler7963]

Hi David - The four containers on the flat car were unique to the Rock Island and they hauled malt for the Pabst Brewing Company in Peoria, Illinois. This custom HO scale model was built by Seth Wetzel and I acquired it a couple of months ago. Thank you very much for watching and I appreciate your comments! Mike

[@toddbehrends1373]

What, in real life, did the 2 Burlington cars carry? And, what are in the containers on the flat car in front of the caboose on Train 65? I liked the runby at track speed you showed.

[@rimodeler7963]

Hi Todd - the Burlington cars were called “whale belly hoppers” and carried cement. The containers on the flat car carried malt for the Pabst Brewing Company in Peoria, Illinois. This car was unique to the Rock Island and the model was custom built by my friend Seth Wetzel. Thanks for watching! Mike

[@dfwrailvideos]

Hi! I’m building a model railroad in HO scale based off the Rock Island in the 60s to 70s, kind of a proto-freelanced branch line or secondary line, and I’m looking for locos. Everything I see is either out of stock or on back order, and the stuff that isn’t doesn’t have DCC and Sound. Do you have anything that could aid me in finding locomotives for my layout? Thank you!

[@rimodeler7963]

I painted a great number of my Rock Island locomotives as I, too, had difficulty finding painted and Ready-to-Run diesels. Installing DCC decoders (including with sound) is a reasonably easy task and there are people that will install them (for a fee) if you choose not to do it yourself. I recently saw an ad for RI SD40-2s to be available, but I don’t recall the manufacturer. Keep doing internet searches and you’ll eventually find some RI motive power for sale. Thanks for watching my video and good luck with your RI model railroad. Mike

[@dfwrailvideos]

@@rimodeler7963 thanks for the advice! I picked up an Atlas U30C and I’m thinking about getting an RI GP18 once the Athearn ones come out. Ideally I’d like to get a Proto2K U28B I’ve seen, but that’s a bit further down the road for me.

[@chrisvahle2933]

Always like watching your videos. How is the new expansion to the layout coming along?

[@rimodeler7963]

Thanks for watching the video. No expansion planned for the layout. Mike

[@chrisvahle2933]

@@rimodeler7963 sorry about that . I know that it was a Rock Island layout that was going to be expanded. Now I can’t remember who .

[@jerrywikstrom2431]

Mike, Are the CB&Q whale belly hoppers resin kits or brass? Jerry

[@rimodeler7963]

Hi Jerry - the whale belly hoppers are brass models. Mike

[@georgiasunbelt]

Enjoyed The Rock 👍🏽

[@rimodeler7963]

Thanks much for watching! Mike

[@CharlieKrampitz]

Nice layout

[@rimodeler7963]

Thank you! Mike

[@randysrockandrollrailroad8207]

😊