Rock Island Around Joliet - Late 70s

[@GabeVeasey]

Sadly I wasn’t born yet when the Rock Island Railroad was operating. If there was a time machine, I would love to go back in time and see it.

[@raulpuga3216]

Thank you for recording the horn sounds,besides the videos.

[@robertrunty7330]

Thanks for the memories. My buddy and I grew up around Joliet and we started taking pictures around 1975. This is the Joliet I remember, Rock Islands rolling museum, GM&O ( ICG )'s "The Plug" commuter train with its unmistakable blat horn. Amtrak SDP40F's and P30CH's, and you even got BN's coal train that would come down the ICG to ComEd's Joliet plant. So many summer evenings spent at Joliet Union Station 40 some years ago.

[@brandtbecker1810]

Robert - I saw "The Plug" waiting to leave Union Station in the summer of 1976 but didn't know much about it. My grandmother and I had just arrived on a 3-hours-late Southwest Limited LOL. Do you recall how far out "The Plug" went? Did it only make a single round trip in the morning and afternoon? I was amazed that it still carried the GM&O colors and I believe that was an F-3 that provided the power. Correct me if I'm mistaken! Brandt

[@robertpetit57]

There is so much more than just the Rock Island in this video. Private cars "Golden Leaf" and "Imperial Moon" trailing the normal two car Rocket consist. First generation Amtrak, including SDP40'S, P30CH's with Amfleet, E units, and even Turbotrains. The GM&O shows up with various views of the "Plug". The Sante Fe shows up with a few freight trains, including bicentennial SD45 5702. All in all a great view into the past.

[@vettebecker1]

I love the rock island red and yellow loco’s, the F units and E’s have always been my favorite style of diesel.

[@thatoneguy611]

Agreed

[@davidurban6813]

Especially with the oscillating headlight. Looks so cool

[@LotusbandicootRR]

This is one of those times I'd love to have a time machine

[@glendenig9962]

As a kid I lived in Morris. Great vid!

[@rimodeler7963]

I enjoyed the video with original sound ......... love hearing the Nathan P5 Old Cast air horns ...... nothing better than that!! Thank you for a nice video that captures the flavor of the unfortunate "failing" Rock Island in the late 1970's. Mike

[@rolpfeiffermuller935]

Thanks airing the outstanding video .Reminescent of ' vintage' life.Bliss

[@jalilmuhammad8270]

The last years of the Rock Island Line in a scorching pain of bankruptcy.

[@ILSRWY4]

The title should really read: "Rock Island... and GM&O, Amtrak & BN around Joliet - late 70s" or simply "Trains around Juliet - late 70s"

[@RunninEight]

I'm pretty sure the clips at 1:49 and 2:36 are Geneseo, IL. These are the first videos I've ever seen of Geneseo during the Rock days! Way too cool!

[@jabnola]

My uncle was an engineer on Rockisland Lines before retirement. I love the train whistle sounds like a lonesome harmonica.

[@georgemurphy2579]

John Black...I have an old transit map of Chicago's El. I quote: "All Elevated Trains in Chicago Stop at the Rock Island-Pacific Railway Station."

[@CornCountryRails]

All good stuff to me! Thank you for sharing.

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

A MIGHTY GOOD ROAD, ITS THE ROAD TO RIDE

[@johnjablonski7874]

another great video of a "fallen flag" watching the trains rock back and forth like that,, makes ya think if they ever did any work on the lines at all?

[@kelvintorrence5994]

Well no watch the Penn central video about them being broke and can't fix anything please u.s. taxpayers jail us out boohoo boohoo.

[@jundukes]

@@kelvintorrence5994 kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXnQqoynm7OMpMU

[@retr0bits545]

Well, it’s not a fallen flag anymore as it is very much alive, kicking, and thriving in their now class three form. They still struggle with track work in their Mississippi division (Mississippi Delta Railroad) due to the previous operators neglect. At least the have the Gulfport, MS site bringing in a lot of cash and the railroad in Baldwin City, Kansas (the old Midland Railway) is being sorted out. So, they have it a lot better than back then and I foresee a possibility of rebuilding the line south to connect the the Columbus and Greenville railway once the funds are available to get to the port of Rosedale (a theory of mine).

[@spencercorby4571]

Just like much of the Milwaukee road trackage. They had to shorten the fuel tanks and various other things to save weight so that way they wouldn't damage the tracks as much. Much of the Milwaukee road trackage, in the area where my dad worked on the Milwaukee road (Delmar, IA, Green Island, IA, etc) the tracks were sunken into the dirt, and looked very much abandoned with weeds growing out from in between the rails.

[@bluepen61]

Approximately from 1:51 to 3:30 are scenes from the Geneseo, IL depot. A bit far from Seneca, Ottawa, Joliet, and New Lenox. Thank you for posting it.

[@dwkcamman611]

Excellent!!

[@scoobycarr5558]

Did you know that some of the Rock Island's bilevel cars are still at work for Metra? I rode on one from Chicago to Berwyn.

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

Same goes for the Chicago and Northwestern, Chicago Burlington and Quincy and Milwaukee Road.

[@VermillionDawn]

Amazing footage! A Rohr Turbotrain at 24:00, wow!

[@Isochest]

I wondered what this "DMU" was!!!

[@Ken_in_Wisconsin]

That is actually an RTG Turboliner. The ones made by Rohr came later and ran only in the northeast.

[@scoobycarr5558]

Spiritually speaking, the Rock Island didn't really go away. Just the name of the railroad has changed to Metra between Chicago and Joliet as the Rock Island District. Metra's red colored schedules focuses on the RI's passenger livery in the 1970s. Also west of Joliet, the Rock Island's tracks are shared by CSX and Iowa Interstate to Utica and wholly owned by IAIS west of Utica.

[@ThomasJackClark]

Not all of it was bought up. The line to Denver was largely abandoned. So was the line to Santa Rosa New Mexico. Also much of its trackage in Oklahoma has been abandoned. I believe that UP acquired the Spine Line (St. Paul to Kansas City). I would say that the one good thing that came out of the Rock Island failure is the termination of the ICC and the getting rid of the over-regulation of the railroad industry.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@ThomasJackClark I was working for the Chicago & North Western Railway at the time it purchased the former Rock Island Line's "spine line." The Soo Line also tried to buy it for access to Kansas City, but the C&NW won out in the end.

[@ThomasJackClark]

@@WAL_DC-6B Thank you for the correction. I completely forgot about the C&NW, which is bad considering that I grew up very near one of its original lines.

[@scoobycarr5558]

The Rock Island's freight train maybe headed to Chicago at approximately 1:40 is at Ottawa instead of Joliet. The RI's depot in the view at Ottawa still exists, staffed by both CSX and Iowa Interstate.

[@drifterman319]

I can feeeel the 70s in this one. And trains you could get seasick on. Like 'Weebles wobble but they don't fall down'. (70s toy commercial)

[@ns9987]

0:55 - Three Rock Island EMD E8's pulling a piggyback train !!! Talk about a rare sight !!!

[@squirrelguy2195]

Except on the Erie Lackawanna, then again the EL's E units were regeared for freight service as the Rock's still were geared for passenger so I imagine the EL's units probably were a bit better at pulling freight. Still awesome either way though!

[@lindsaymoore7232]

Wow! Old 8mm file!!!! You don't see this anymore. Very grainy!!

[@vicodumb]

Loved those Rock Island air horns!

[@the.porter.productions]

I’ve never heard of GMO - Gulf Mobile and Ohio. That was a cool line. Who bought it out and where did it run? Might want to model it. 😳 This was a E-F unit lovers dream!

[@RailroadMediaArchive]

Might I suggest Google or Wikipedia?

[@scoobycarr5558]

Illinois Central bought the GM&O in 1972 and became the Illinois Central Gulf. The GM&O's main formerly the Chicago & Alton ran from Chicago to St. Louis. The GM&O also gave the ICG a route to Kansas City, as well as a secondary route from St. Louis to Cairo, IL and some branchlines in the South. Today the GM&O's and ICG's lines Chicago and Joliet and University Park are owned by CN while Union Pacific has the former GM&O Joliet to St. Louis. Kansas City Southern has the GM&O Springfield to Kansas City Line.

[@MrBnsftrain]

neat ctaches! Was the GM&O train at 3:43 still run by GM&O or is it just an Amtrak train with all ex-GM&O equipment? I've seen a few similar images before but never got a good answer

[@RailroadMediaArchive]

It was an Illinois Central commuter train on what is now the Heritage Corridor run by Metra. GM&O was merged with Illinois Central in I want to say 1974 (someone I'm certain will correct me if I'm wrong), but they were in no hurry to paint equipment. The state stepped in and purchased new equipment for this line around 1980.

[@garysprandel1817]

@@RailroadMediaArchive 70 or 71 for ICG. And yep they weren't in any real hurry to repaint as I've got pics around from 86/87 of GM&O redbird SD40s and couple stray first and second gen green diamond IC units

[@foranken]

@@RailroadMediaArchive Official merger date was August 10th 1972.

[@centralillinoisrailpix453]

Notice how much smoother the GM&O track is compared to RI. Riding the Peoria Rocket was a sure test of seasickness.

[@WaffleDragon]

Amazing. The original sound really makes this. The track looks so dirty though, the locomotives too. I'd guess that was because The Rock was on its way out.

[@mjarail]

The G M & O Joliet Plug has post-war cars with 3 axle trucks, which were unusual.

[@fakecumberland]

The Rock stuff is great, don’t get me wrong. But I really like the early Amtrak power on display: SDP40Fs and P30CHs.

[@ENYoriginal]

Around the 8 minute mark, that can't be a GM&O F3 before its eventual rebuild to become a MBTA F(P)10?

[@RailroadMediaArchive]

I don't know if that specific F3 was rebuilt to an FP10, but it is a GM&O F3 ("The Plug").

[@richardburdick9430]

Interesting stuff! What blew my mind was the RI pig train with 3 E units leading. Third out looked like it was either former UP or MILW.

[@squirrelguy2195]

The EL did that as well, though to my understand the Rock's E units weren't regeared for freight like the EL's were.

[@garysprandel1817]

Former UP. RI purchased some surplused Es when UP quit passenger service. Commuter trains pulled by obviously former UP engines were sometimes called The City Of Blue Island.

[@foranken]

Back in the day there were very few commuter trains on the weekend. The E units would often grab a westbound and run as far as Silvis to be serviced and swapped out for other units. They came back on Sunday with an eastbound so as to be in position for Monday morning.

[@Robbi496]

Scenes of the Rock island and poignant and a bit sad. John D Farrington whipped the RI back in shape from the mid 1930's until the early 50's. After he left Downing Jenks and Jerry Langdon basically let the whole thing fall apart again while trying to merge it into the UP.

[@scoobycarr5558]

The Milwaukee Road went through the very same thing. Only its target was the Chicago & North Western instead of UP. The MILW's president in the 1970s was Worrington Smith, who was more of a pro Burlington Northern guy than a Milwaukee Road guy.

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

Why are older train horns always better than new ones?

[@christophercarey3232]

A mixture of Well Built, Well Tuned and Nostalgia.

[@VVK5W]

@@christophercarey3232 and let's not forget they were built during a period when AirChime actually took pride in their product and wanted it to be the best of the best. Not churning out mass produced garbage like today.

[@christophercarey3232]

@@VVK5W It was mostly Leslie Horns since they were more popular in the United States back in the day but yeah, Nathan also had its share of good horns.

[@AlexTrain5249]

There is a reason. Today’s Nathan horns are made out of die cast aluminum while the old ones were made out of sand cast steel. It’s amazing what a simple material change can do to a horn’s sound.

[@gregturner5890]

Thank God for you tube...best sharing platform ever..😜...i guess the rock don't fill bad.. Most all railroad s are gone now...did the rock have rails in the east...east of Chicago. . not little rock Arkansas...to big for their health.. Love the f7 or coverwagons....

[@willwozniak2826]

No.

[@mikeytrains1]

greg turner No, the Rock didn’t run east of Chicago. All their routes were west of the windy city. The CMStP&P, however, did run as far east as Terre Haute Indiana. Still an interesting question.

[@tommythomason6187]

Seems like Rock Island had lots of E units. I wonder how many? Union Pacific had 16 E8's, I think, and Southern Railway System had 17. Southern offered their's to Amtrak, but the passenger carrier was dubious of their condition. And really strange, because I've never lived, or even been to, Illinois, is the sight of a grimy old F3, in Gulf, Mobile and Ohio paint, pulling some old, old looking passenger cars. Who paid for running this train and why the ancient equipment? I can't imagine G.,M, & O. ( Illinois Central Gulf) wanted this train on the schedule.

[@davidvanschaick5565]

Super Stuff !!

[@seanycarr3226]

I believe that after the Rock Island went under, most of the bilevels went to the Regional Transportation Authority and eventually Metra, and some with the 16 windows went to the CNW. Most of the late great Rock Island's bilevels are still at work for Metra today, especially the Milwaukee District West and North lines and Union Pacific's west, north and northwest lines.

[@RailroadMediaArchive]

You would be correct, however, for the first year after the Rock's liquidation the CNW was the operator of the Rock's commuter service. That passed to RTA in 1981, which became Metra the following year.

[@seanycarr3226]

@@RailroadMediaArchive Okeedokee thanks for the info

[@RailroadMediaArchive]

@@seanycarr3226 If you can get your hands on the March 1983 issue of TRAINS it's totally devoted to the end of the Rock, and its disposition.

[@dougs184]

Good video, Thanks.

[@2244khan]

From 21:24 to 21:54, Number 650 looks like the most awesome design of the old era.

[@drifterman319]

Really can't stand the new modern look of these engines these days. There's no reason why they can't design a shell very similar to these and have all the new technology in regards to economy, power and noise etc. The new look inside, old look outside.

[@2244khan]

@@drifterman319 Agreed.

[@cbalducc]

What was the max speed of the Rock passenger trains by this time?

[@Tom-xe9iq]

Seems to me that the RRs that tied their fortunes to passenger traffic and coal fell pretty hard when the rug was pulled out.

[@spaceghost8995]

I don't think any of them actually wanted to do passenger service at all.

[@tommythomason6187]

The Amtrak Cigar Band paint scheme desecrated E8s and didn't help the homely F40PHs, either. Their Phase l scheme was their best.

[@rickmatuska]

The good ole rock

[@NorthEasternMotionProductions]

Very nice p horns.

[@annescholey6546]

A lot of victory tootling here

[@jonahturner6389]

What are those strange horns on the GM&O F units

[@AlexTrain5249]

Leslie Tyfon A200.

[@jonahturner6389]

@@AlexTrain5249 thank you

[@stephenheath8465]

THE ERA OF DEFERRED MAINTENACE LOL

[@tommythomason6187]

Classic...in every way. This is the most extensive rail footage of Joliet that I've seen. A Gulf, Mobile and Ohio passenger train in the late 70's? How could this be? I thought Amtrak dumped GM&O's passenger trains? Is it a subsidized train? Why is it still a beaten up little GM&O train - powered by an F3 freight engine, at that?

[@RailroadMediaArchive]

It was a subsidized commuter train ("The Plug") run by Illinois Central Gulf between Chicago and Joliet on what is now the Metra Heritage Corridor. The RTA (predecessor to today's Metra) did not buy new bilevel coaches for this service until 1979.

[@garysprandel1817]

@@RailroadMediaArchive early RTA was serious triage with the Rock Island taking priority as it was a literal working museum on the verge of total collapse. With the relative light traffic commuter on the ICG Joliet line they could get by a bit longer with the old equipment

[@foranken]

The F-unit had a steam generator for car heating, no A/C in the cars, and lighting by wheel powered generators and batteries, just like the old days.

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

0:54 has to be the best part.

[@theark-la-missrailfan]

I agree

[@AlexTrain5249]

Little bit of a tid bit. This recording is actually 9% faster than what was actually heard. If you listen to the sound of perfect Old Cast P5s at speed, you'll hear what I mean.

[@barroningram7286]

i can here Johnny cash now😊

[@seankaiser2505]

Cant help but think that their tracks look like they were made of cheese

[@redbarnz]

That Rock Island track is in the most appalling condition! See 5:52 and 21:19!

[@luispatricio2801]

0:00 that bell does sound bad

[@Isochest]

Aboriginal railroading: As it should be!

[@Nvideofilmsproductions]

bad camera quality