| Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad | |
|---|---|
  The Rock Island System in 1965. |
|
| Reporting mark | RI, ROCK |
| Locale | Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas |
| Dates of operation | October 10, 1852–March 31, 1980 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 81⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois |
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RR) (reporting marks RI, ROCK) was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.
Contents |
History
Incorporation
Its ancestor, 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. Construction began October 1, 1851, in Chicago, and the first train was operated on October 10, 1852, between Chicago and Joliet. Construction continued on through La Salle, and Rock Island was reached on February 22, 1854, becoming the first railroad to connect Chicago with the Mississippi River.
In Iowa, the C&RI's incorporators created (on February 5, 1853) the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Company, to run from Davenport to Council Bluffs, and on November 20, 1855, the first train to operate in Iowa steamed from Davenport to Muscatine. The Mississippi river bridge between Rock Island and Davenport was completed on April 22, 1856.[1]
In 1857, Abraham Lincoln represented the Rock Island in an important lawsuit regarding bridges over navigable rivers. The suit had been brought by the owner of a steamboat which was destroyed by fire after running into the Mississippi river bridge. Lincoln argued that not only was the steamboat at fault in striking the bridge but that bridges across navigable rivers were to the advantage of the country.[2]
The M&M was acquired by the C&RI on July 9, 1866, to form the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company. The railroad expanded through construction and acquisitions in the following decades.[1]
Territory
The Rock Island stretched across Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas. The easternmost reach of the system was Chicago, and the system also reached Memphis, Tennessee; west, it reached Denver, Colorado, and Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Southernmost reaches were to Galveston, Texas, and Eunice, Louisiana while in a northerly direction the Rock Island got as far as Minneapolis, Minnesota.[3] Major lines included Minneapolis to Kansas City, Missouri, via Des Moines, Iowa; St. Louis, Missouri Meta, Missouri, to Santa Rosa via Kansas City; Herington, Kansas, to Galveston, Texas, via Fort Worth, Texas, and Dallas, Texas; and Santa Rosa to Memphis. The heaviest traffic was on the Chicago-to-Rock Island and Rock Island-to-Muscatine lines.
Passenger train service
The Rock Island jointly operated the Golden State Limited (Chicago—Kansas City—Tucumcari—El Paso—Los Angeles) with the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) from 1902–1968. The name was shortened to the Golden State after 1948's modernization. Another joint venture with the SP, the Golden Rocket, was planned to enter service in 1948 but instead became "the train that never was," after SP withdrew from the joint train operating agreement. The Golden Rocket's uniquely-colored livery was placed in Golden State service instead.
In 1937, the Rock Island introduced Diesel power to its passenger service, with the purchase of six lightweight Rocket streamliners.
The railroad operated a number of trains known as Rockets serving the Midwest, including the Rocky Mountain Rocket (Chicago—Omaha—Lincoln—Denver—Colorado Springs), the Corn Belt Rocket (Chicago—Des Moines—Omaha), the Twin Star Rocket (Minneapolis—St. Paul—Des Moines—Kansas City—Oklahoma City—Fort Worth—Dallas—Houston), the Zephyr Rocket (Minneapolis—St. Paul—Burlington—St. Louis) and the Choctaw Rocket (Memphis—Little Rock—Oklahoma City—Amarillo—Tucumcari).
The Rock Island did not join Amtrak on its formation in 1971, and continued to operate its own passenger trains. After concluding that the cost of joining would be the same as operating the two remaining intercity roundtrips (the Chicago-Peoria Peoria Rocket and the Chicago-Rock Island Quad Cities Rocket), the railroad decided to "perform a public service for the state of Illinois" and continue intercity passenger operations. Both trains were discontinued on December 31, 1978.
The Rock Island also operated an extensive commuter train service in the Chicago area. The primary route ran from LaSalle Street Station to Joliet along the main line, and a spur line, known as the "suburban branch" to Blue Island. These services started to receive financial backing in 1976 from the newly formed Regional Transportation Authority. Today these lines are operated as part of Metra, and are known as the Rock Island District.
Rock Island's Demise
In 1964, the Rock Island selected Union Pacific to pursue a merger plan to form one large railroad. In the process, Rock Island fell victim to the most complicated merger in the history of the Interstate Commerce Commission. After more than ten years of studies and court hearings, Union Pacific came to an agreement with Rock Island, subject to many other terms and conditions. However, due to Rock Island paying for the studies, and court related orders, track conditions were in disrepair and in bad condition as the railway's funds and money were going to the merger case, rather than maintaining the trackage. After Union Pacific came to the realization of this, they backed out of their merger plans.
On March 17, 1975, Rock Island entered its third and final bankruptcy. William M. Gibbons was selected as receiver and trustee by Judge Frank J. McGarr, whom Gibbons practiced law with in the early 1960s. In August 1979, the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks (BRAC) walked out on a strike against Rock Island in a dispute over retroactive wages. When no resolution of the strike seemed possible, the ICC ordered the Kansas City Terminal Railway to take over all operations in September 1979. Rock Island president John W. Ingram resigned, and Gibbons took over as president of the bankrupt railroad.
On January 24, 1980, Judge McGarr was selected to hear the Rock Island bankruptcy case and ruled that the Rock Island could not be successfully reorganized and ordered it to be liquidated and sold; the resulting action made the Rock Island the largest bankruptcy liquidation in U.S. history up until that time.
Kansas City Terminal began the process of embargoing in-bound shipments in late February, and the final train operated March 31. The railroad's locomotives, rail cars, and tracks were sold, or dismantled and sold. Gibbons was able to raise $500 million in the liquidation, paying off all the railroads creditors and debts with interest. Gibbons was released from the Rock Island on June 1, 1984 after all the Rock Island's locomotives, rail cars, tracks, and remaining physical plant was sold, or abandoned. Rock Island's holding company, the Chicago Pacific Corporation, continued on as its railroad/transportation subsidiary was liquidated. Chicago Pacific was purchased by Maytag in 1985.[4]
The former Rock Island mainline from Chicago to Omaha was purchased by the newly formed Iowa Interstate Railroad.
Company officers
Presidents of the Rock Island Railroad included:
- James W. Grant, November 27, 1850 - December 22, 1851.[5]
- John Bloomfield Jervis, December 22, 1851 - December 1854.[5]
- Henry Farnam, December 1854 - June 1863.[5]
- Charles W. Durant, June 1863 - August 1866.[6]
- John F. Tracy, August 1866 - April 14, 1877.[7][8]
- Hugh Riddle, April 14, 1877 - June 6, 1883.[9]
- Ransom Reed Cable, June 6, 1883 - June 1898.[9]
- Warren G. Purdy, June 1898 - December 31, 1901.[10]
- William Bateman Leeds, December 31, 1901 - March 26, 1904.[10]
- Benjamin L. Winchell, March 26, 1904 - December 1909.
- Henry U. Mudge, December 1909 - April 20, 1915.
- Jacob McGavock Dickinson appointed receiver trustee during bankruptcy, April 20, 1915 - June 21, 1917.
- James E. Gorman, June 22, 1917 - June 7, 1933.
- Joseph B. Fleming, Frank Orren Lowden (until his death on March 20, 1943) and James E. Gorman (until his death on March 25, 1942) appointed receiver trustees during bankruptcy, June 7, 1933 - December 31, 1947. Aaron Colnon replaced Frank O. Lowden as receiver trustee on April 19, 1943.
- John Dow Farrington, January 1, 1948 - 1955.
- Downing B. Jenks, 1956-1961.
- R. Ellis Johnson, 1961-1964.
- Jervis Langdon, Jr., 1965-1970.
- William J. Dixon, 1970-1974.
- John W. Ingram, 1974 - March 17, 1975.[11]
- William M. Gibbons appointed receiver trustee during bankruptcy, March 17, 1975 - June 1, 1984.[12][13][14][15][16]
In popular culture
- An old folk song called "Rock Island Line", made famous by blues legend Leadbelly, memorializes the railroad.
- The opening 'railroad train' number in Meredith Willson’s The Music Man is entitled "Rock Island", and suggests by the title and context that the train is indeed a Rock Island train crossing from Rock Island to Davenport, Iowa, also known as "River City".
- William Munny is reputed to have dynamited the "Rock Island and Pacific" in 1869, killing "women and children" in the film Unforgiven.
- The movie Rock Island Trail[17] was about the building of the Rock Island Railroad across Illinois, the Mississippi River, and Iowa. Hollywood stars including John Wayne, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans took part in a pre-show parade which extended from Silvis, Illinois through Rock Island, Illinois.[18]
See also
References
- ^ a b Yard Clerical Manual. Rock Island Railroad. 1970. http://www.rits.org/www/histories/RIHistory.html. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
- ^ Donald, David Herbert (1999). Lincoln. New York, N.Y.: Touchstone. pp. 157. ISBN 0-684-82535-X.
- ^ Handy Railroad Atlas of the United States. Rand McNally & Co.. 1973. pp. 53.
- ^ "A Brief Historical Overview of the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad: Postscript". Rock Island Technical Society. 1996. http://faculty.simpson.edu/RITS/www/histories/RIHistory.html. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
- ^ a b c Beydler, John. "The Rock founders faced tragedy and travail before triumphing". The Railroad Comes to Town. http://qconline.com/rilines2004/rilines.cgi?prcss=display&id=184850. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
- ^ "Financial" (PDF). New York Times. June 4, 1866. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9F06E3DB133DE53BBC4C53DFB066838D679FDE&oref=slogin. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
- ^ Wargin, Tom (June 2, 1999). "RITS: Today in History: 06/02". http://faculty.simpson.edu/RITS/www/mjdomo.archives/archived-rits/msg06015.html. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
- ^ Hofsommer, Don L. (2005). Minneapolis and the Age of Railways. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 101. ISBN 0-8166-4501-9.
- ^ a b "In the railroad world: Mr. Riddle says he was not forced out" (PDF). New York Times. February 26, 1884. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F00E4D81F3BE532A25755C2A9649C94659FD7CF. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
- ^ a b Hannah, Leslie; Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo (2006). "Ownership and Control in the Twentieth Century: Ambiguous Trends in Marriage and Divorce" (PDF). pp. p 13. http://www.helsinki.fi/iehc2006/papers1/Hannah.pdf. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
- ^ "Lines on Labor". Railway Age 177 (13): p 16. July 26 1976.
- ^ "William M. GIBBONS, Trustee of Property of the Chicago, RockIsland & Pacific Railroad Company, Appellee,v.GRAVES CONSTRUCTION CO., INC., Appellant". United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit. - 727 F.2d 753. December 10, 1984. http://cases.justia.com/us-court-of-appeals/F2/727/753/. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
- ^ "NATIONAL STEEL SERVICE CENTER, Appellee, v. William GIBBONS, Trustee of the Property of Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company, Appellant-Movant". United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit. December 2, 1982. http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/693/693.F2d.817.80-1452.80-1410.html. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
- ^ "In the Matter of CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, Debtor. Appeal of BANKERS TRUST COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. William M. GIBBONS, Trustee-Appellee". United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. August 2, 1979. http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/604/604.F2d.1002.76-2137.html. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
- ^ Schafer, Mike (1996). Classic American Railroads. St. Paul, MN: MBI Publishing. pp. 76. ISBN 0-7603-0239-1.
- ^ Baird, Douglas G. (1982). "Bankruptcy Procedure and State-Created Rights: The Lessons of Gibbons and Marathon". The Supreme Court Review 1982: pp 25–47.
- ^ Rock Island Trail (1950)
- ^ "Roy Rogers, Delores Chapman in North of the Great Divide". Captain Ernie's Showboat. http://www.captainerniesshowboat.com/royrogers. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
External links
- Rock Island Technical Society Home Page
- The Rock Island Line
- History of the song (Waybacked)
- The Rock Island In Arkansas
- 1854 Grand Excursion
- Andover Junction Publications Remember the Rock magazine Home Page
- Rock Island System Map
- Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad
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