Joliet, Illinois Trains Mid 70s

[@MilwaukeeRoadFan1993]

And still such an amazing place to railfan to this day! Most videos from the 70s, if you compare it to today, traffic is nearly not anywhere as high or not as much variety, but today in Joliet you can see Metra, Amtrak, CSX, CN, BNSF, UP, Iowa Interstate, and more!

[@ryanmcgrath4979]

Wow, the area surrounding Marley Road in New Lenox was household free back then on both sides of the bridge. And the tracks curving by New Avenue in Lockport outside of Romeoville by the refinery was almost unrecognizable.

[@willx666x666]

thank you my old man is dealin wit alztimers seein this footage brought a since of normal to my dad

[@mr.j2776]

Wow - the ROCK really had some rough stretches of track in the last 8 - 10 years of existence. Makes me wonder how well they met their schedules.

[@HHopebringer]

Not well at all thanks to decades of deferred maintenance...

[@garysprandel1817]

Seeing that inbound Rocket make the station stop near sunset brings back memories. My grandparent's on my mother's side hailed from Marseilles with my great grandmother's house facing the tracks a few blocks east of the depot( the family living there after she passed in the 90s at 108 were somewhat famous for the replica of the White Sox scoreboard in the side yard some years ago) and my " uncle and aunt" ( gramps sister and brother in law) lived on the next street north. It was a visit on a warm summer evening much like in the vid when my uncle took me and my sister for a walk down to the old locks and bridge over the I&M canal and on the way back crossing the tracks a horn off to the west meant my uncle held up our return so his train crazy nephew could watch it go by. Under his watchful eye I edged closer to the tracks since a headlight had not been visible crossing and watched the headlight " rise" from the roadbed and roar by minutes later. I know there's no way to know if that was that summer evening( and considering the commuter traffic most likely not) but in my mind it was.

[@trainsofwisconsin]

Bad rocking at 13:08

[@Nvideofilmsproductions]

These trains would of derailed

[@scoobycarr5558]

Some of the Rock Island's bilevels are still at work for Metra, and a handful of these are still running on their former home rails on Metra's Rock Island District as well as on the Milwaukee West and Milwaukee North lines.

[@georgelamore2140]

yes, thats right..they don't build them like they use too..

[@easyamp123]

I've heard it's not the film, it was just fuzzy and dingy back then. Excellent video, thanks

[@johnredhd]

Great video. Boy, the Rock Island's tracks were in pretty sad shape. My dad worked for the Milwaukee RR from the mid 50s to it's demise in the early 80s. The Milwaukee shared a similar fate with the Rock Island. I live in Davenport, Iowa and the Rock's main to the west comes right through town. The Iowa Interstate RR is doing very well with their old main to Omaha.

[@BobDodge]

Awesome it's great to see the old Turbo and my favorite The GM&O Plug. Thank You for sharing !!!

[@beckyacampoverde]

I miss those trains

[@davidstaudohar8147]

🔴🦅🇺🇲🦅..THE MIGHTY ROCK ISLAND LINE, besides working on box 📦 cars as a break man , could Always catch a free ride 4 down town Chicago 🏢🏢🏢🏦🏫🏢 ,when pops found out I was hopping the train, He..immediately caused me lots of Pain , ,besides the verbal lashing from Uncle Louis Caron , the dispatcher on the C n O 🚞🚞🚞🚞 Rail Road, they BOTH insisted I let that THRILL.G😃..

[@mOOsechuck]

Amazing stuff. Thank you so much for posting this footage!

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Nice shots of the ICG (former GM&O) "the plug!" Especially the one passing the long gone Texaco oil refinery at Lockport, IL. Thanks for sharing!

[@scoobycarr5558]

Me and my Dad were taking a ride to Bensenville about 1978 to see trains when he noticed smoke from a fire that was actually near Lockport. Turned out that a gasoline storage tank got hit by lightning and exploded the day before. The storage tank was empty, but the fumes ignited the explosion after the lightning hit the tank. Still remember this thing that made the national headlines like it was yesterday. Thank goodness no one was hurt by the explosion.

[@scoobycarr5558]

The GM&O would be absorbed into the Illinois Central to become the ICG in the 1970s, and later the ICG's line between Chicago and St. Louis (the former GM&O) would spinoff into the ill-fated Chicago, Missouri & Western. Then the Southern Pacific picked up the former GM&O and following this action in 1996 the SP would become part of Union Pacific. In today's modern era, the former GM&O out of Joliet is under Union Pacific ownership, while the line from Joliet to the land of Jennifer is owned by Illinois Central and ICG successor Canadian National.

[@willwozniak2826]

Don't forget the IC Amboy District was the IC original mainline Centralia-Freeport that line was here first. I don't know why the IC bought the GM&O......after this they had 3 north-south lines....and the Amboy District was the 1st one to be abandones.....SAD.

[@WillGrimm623]

Where would the GM&O/ICG plug wye? Metra I know today uses cab cars but ICG didn’t

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

Why are older train horns more awesome than new ones?

[@AlexTrain5249]

They were made out of Sand Cast metal. Today their made of Die Cast metal which makes them sound a lot more tinny.

[@elizabethfarrell9650]

Thanks. 😀

[@scoobycarr5558]

The Rock Island had terrible looking tracks, rolling stock and locomotives during its brave final days. Heck, the Rock Island still operated its 630 E-6 engine during its final days - and the engine dated to before World War II! It's the product of nasty government regulation, bad practices between ownership and the railroad unions, very little variety of overhead freight traffic (the RI mostly just depended on the products of farmers and agriculture)and simply because the Rock Island had plenty of bad luck when its tracks plied just about every which way just to get some traffic from these online farmers.

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

Let's not forget the Interstates effects on it.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the Rock Island went everywhere the Burlington (CB&Q) went, except slower.

[@MrBnsftrain]

Nice footage! Especially the turboliners, Rock Island commuter trains, and an ATSF Bicentennail engine! Is that GM&O train at 14:30 an OCS or a commuter train? 13:09 nice catch of CRIP 630! I've seen that engine a few times in kansas City, before it was sent to Iowa in may 2017! Too bad it wasn't repainted with that gold nose!

[@cbehr91]

MrBnsftrain commuter train.

[@Nvideofilmsproductions]

dark

[@b3j8]

Audio quality is above average for Super 8. I still think ALOT of footage shot by railfans over the yrs either degraded to the point it was unusable, or was tossed after a death by relatives who had no idea what it's value was. Same for audio tape. Anyhow thanks for this!

[@NorthEasternMotionProductions]

13:56 Holy Fuck, a s5t on a SDP40-F

[@1990sRailfan]

Which route did the northbound turbos take after Joliet? Did they take the old GM&O or the ATSF into Chicago?

[@richardburdick9430]

This is only speculation, but Amtrak and before that GM&O ran out of CUS. That would lead me to believe that they ran over the GM&O/ICG.

[@odiecalodie]

GM&O

[@WillGrimm623]

@@richardburdick9430 not speculation but fact, Amtrak did indeed take the GM&O for turbos and this service continues with the Lincoln service today. Only the Super Chief and other ex ATSF trains used the Santa fe

[@Nvideofilmsproductions]

1974-75

[@miker2002]

Was this teen you?

[@RailroadMediaArchive]

No.

[@michaelkujbus4327]

O-o 13:08