RocK Island in El Reno

[alecifel]

yeah the Rock abandoned one of those E's in El Reno. I remember running around the engine compartment as a teenager. Don't know where it went from there, disappeared in the 90's. Guess they scrapped it.

[maniacmarklewin52]

cool video great shots

[txxxvvvttt]

RI's Southern Division was my playground. I rode the Twin Star Rocket from Houston to Kansas City as a kid.

Dad was the last RI employee in Texas. He closed the Dallas office, shipping to the Chicago home office all the relics that are now collectibles.

UP took some trackage; KCS and BNSF some; some was abandoned. All of the New Mexico roadbed is gone. A commuter line uses the 38 miles from Fort Worth to Dallas.

[retrovetteguy]

There is a good book called Route of the Rockets I'm reading right now, you should check out...it's on ebay for about 40 bucks...you would get a kick out of it

[Landaux]

1:58, I always wondered because I was almost 12 when RR went out, was that BROWN or MAROON paint? It looks like the logos did not last long, the paint sure seemed to deteriorate fast.

[UnionPacificBNSF]

The Rock lives on parts of the lines belong to Union Pacific, Iowa Interstate, and several shortlines. Believe Iowa Interstate owns the most former Rock Trackage. I know UP owns some in Arkansas.

[therockisland]

@UnionPacificBNSF: The UP also got the Twin Cities - KC "Spine line" from the CNW buyout, and the "Golden State Route" from the SP.

[dbmcg2000]

UP also owns the Spine Line from Minnie to Ft.Worth/Dallas. They also got the Golden State line from St. Louis to Santa Rosa N.M. when they took the SP.

[retrovetteguy]

the Minnie to Dallas bit is not all in one piece as original Rock track though...it's all broke up...and Ameren owns most of the STL / KC line now...they use it to run fiber optic cables...it was never technically abandoned but if you want to run a train on it you will need a chainsaw...

[retrovetteguy]

UP owns most of it from the SP and CNW mergers...Iowa Interstate owns the orginal main from Chicago to Omaha...

[BNforever2009]

@UnionPacificBNSF I grew up near the RI in Chicago---in the Beverly area. Those tracks were horrible and im surprised that a commuter train did not derail at all. I got to see almost every availiable power and those E units actually shook the ground and they were just awesome to hear. What if the RI survived the 80's?

[sal3060]

Holy crap! This is awesome! I'd have given my right arm for this to have sound.

[vicodumb]

Living in Iowa, I am intimately familiar with the Rock Island, but the Southern portion has always been a bit of a mystery to me.

El Reno was the hub of this part of the RR and I love seeing this old footage. Thanks for posting. Five stars!

[fnm9908]

super ,i always wanted to find videos like this of the rock island,iwasnt born by the time the rock was put out to pasture,but there is plenty of their stuff still around,like the train station in council bluffs IA,or a caboose i saw in sterling IL