Monday evening Rock Island commuter train passing by 16th Street tower in Chicago on 07/15/74, captured on Ektachrome. Photographer unknown. John E. Troxler collection

Monday evening Rock Island commuter train passing by 16th Street in Chicago on 07/15/74, captured on Kodachrome. Photographer unknown. John E. Troxler collection

Rock Island Rail GP38 #4310 and GP30 #3024 pulls a string of Tank Cars south through Dublin, MS., on their way to Swan Lake to be interchanged with Canadian National

Rock Island Rail GP38 #4310 and GP30 #3024 pulls a string of Tank Cars south through Hopson, MS., on their way to Swan Lake to be interchanged with Canadian National

Former Canadian National C40-8, now Rock Island Rail C42-9 #2127 is seen here resting at Sumner, MS., on a beautiful September morning

Rock Island E8A 650 leaving La Salle Street Station of Chicago

A Rock Island Rail Freight Train is seen here heading south through Sumner, MS., on their way south to Swan Lake to interchange with Canadian National. GMTX GP15-1 #415 has since been repainted in... (more)

A Rock Island Rail Freight Train is seen here departing Clarksdale, MS., on their way south to Swan Lake to interchange with Canadian National. GMTX GP15-1 #415 has since been repainted into the R... (more)

Dressed-up in full "wings" treatment, RI GP7 1226 with F7(A) 103 lays over at Council Bluffs, Iowa on April 27, 1958. Photo by L.E. Stagner, from my slide collection.

Built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in October 1941, Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad E6A 630 was one of five E6As purchased by the railroad. The E6s earned their keep pulling ... (more)

Rock Island GP40's 383, 396 and 390 are at Chrome Crankshaft facility in Colton preparing to be scrapped.

Rock Island Rail 2127 rests in Sumner, Mississippi.

Fix It And Shoot It. On August 10, 2021, the lettering was completed on Rock Island Rail 2127 (née-CNW 8544, C40-8C). It sits next to RILX 4310 (née-SOU 2764, GP38) in the pre-dawn hours ... (more)

Lettering. In the pre-dawn hours of August 10, 2021 in Sumner, Mississippi, the lettering was completed on Rock Island Rail 2127 (née-CNW 8544, C40-8C). The unit was not operable at the ti... (more)

Rock Island BL2 429 MU'ed with BL2 425 layover between freight runs at Peoria on April 2, 1960. Despite the uniqueness of BL2s, they had almost seventeen years of service before going to EMD as t... (more)