The ROCK 3.0: Miscellaneous Railfanning in the Midwest

While on vacation a few weeks ago, we crossed numerous railroad sites that I could photograph and explore.  Here is what we came across on our journey.  Note: this is a very long blog post!

Meredosia, Illinois
This is my wife's hometown.  It is a small town of about 1100 people located on the banks of the Illinois River about an hour west of Springfield, Illinois.  It has some rich railroad history, but has now dried up for the most part except for a local that runs up out of Bluffs, IL (from the Norfolk Southern Mainline Chicago to Kansas City) to service a handful of industries on the south side of town.

Ex-Wabash Railroad Depot in town.  The line crossed the Illinois River here and was the last place running Steam Locomotives on the Wabash for many years. 

The rail bridge in Meredosia was constructed too light to handle a locomotive.  The Wabash kept a few small 2-6-0 Steam locomotives to make the run from Meredosia to Quincy.  The last train crossed the bridge in Meredosia in January 28th, 1955.

Around the same time, the Wabash upgraded the mainline from Springfield to Valley City and over to Hannibal.  Curves were straightened, grades were cut down and heavier rail was installed.  A new lift bridge was installed at Valley City in 1959.  The Meredosia bridge crossing the Illinois River was dismantled shortly afterward.

In 1838, the Northern Cross Railroad was the first railroad to operate in Illinois, originating in Meredosia.  It eventually extended both east and west to the state borders.  

One of the more fascinating early industries, was the Meredosia Button Factory.  They stamped buttons out of clam shells dug up from the Illinois River.  We have a basket full of these in our living room that were dug up in my in-law's backyard.  The plant operated from 1926 to 1948.  Once buttons were stamped out, the remaining portion was just used as backfill throughout the community.

Bluffs, Illinois
Small town about 40 minutes west of Springfield, Illinois on the Norfolk Southern Mainline to Kansas City.

Local power for the Meredosia Local

Caboose on the Meredosia Local in Bluffs, IL

Former Norfolk & Western 40' Box Car - Used for Storage - Bluffs, Illinois 

Old Grain Elevator - Bluffs, Illinois

An eastbound freight stopped in Bluffs before heading up the bluff toward Jacksonville and on to Springfield, Illinois.

Naples, Illinois

Consolidated Grain & Barge Elevator - Naples, Illinois

It's beautiful scenery out west.  I love stopping to take photos along the way.

Valley City, Illinois

Here the Norfolk Southern mainline to Kansas City crosses the Illinois River.

Railroad Lift Bridge over the Illinois River

Switch Heater for Derail before the bridge.

A side view of the Bridge from I-72.

Griggsville, Illinois
Continuing west on the Norfolk Southern Mainline.  This is the next town you come to after crossing the Illinois River.  United Feeds Grain has a large elevator here, but it is hard to photograph due to the sun angle.

Hannibal, Missouri

Continuing west on the Norfolk Southern main, it crosses the Mississippi River at Hannibal, Missouri.

The Norfolk Southern mainline across the Mississippi River via a lift bridge.

My wife's grandfather painted this bridge when he worked as a Bridge Painter for the Norfolk & Western Railway back in the 1970s. 

As you can see the water is really high.  The river is at flood stage.

Here is a view of the bridge at track level.  Once it crosses the Mississippi River, the line crosses the North-South Burlington Northern line and goes into a tunnel making a sharp turn to the south where the tracks run parallel to the BN tracks for a short bit before heading west.

The Burlington Northern / Norfolk Southern Crossing.

The Norfolk Southern tunnel that goes into the bluff and makes a sharp left turn heading south.

A view from the tunnel.

The water is coming in under the Burlington Northern mainline.

The Flood Walls have been installed.  Water is seeping in underneath.

A view from the levee looking South.

A view from the levee looking north.  These are Burlington Northern's tracks here.

The water seepage under the flood wall.

West Quincy, MO

Departing the Norfolk Southern Chicago to Kansas City mainline, we move north up to Quincy, Illinois which is also located along the Mississippi River.  Burlington Northern Santa Fe has a small yard here that also serves as a crew change point.  The line from Kansas City splits in Central Missouri.  Both lines reconnect in Galesburg, Illinois and on to Chicago.

Amtrak's Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg trains from Chicago to Quincy terminate here.  I have seen it on occasion either sitting in the yard or turning on the wye just north of the highway crossing out of Quincy, Illinois.

There is a BN line that splits off in West Quincy and heads up to Keokuk and Fort Madison, Iowa following the Mississippi River.  The line also travels south to St. Louis along the river.

Canton, Missouri
The line travels through Canton, Missouri where my wife's aunt and uncle live.  Here are some photos of the line here.  It was closed due to flooding when we visited.

The Burlington Northern Mainline from St. Louis - West Quincy to Keokuk - Fort Madison, IA

As you can see the Mississippi River is in flood stage.

This was a beautiful park that overlooks Lock & Dam #20 that I took my kids to last September, but now under water.

The Ex-Burlington Quincy, Missouri Passenger Station

The flood wall has been installed.

Looking back north over to where I took the first photo by the park.

Dubuque, Iowa
Moving further up the Mississippi River, we found ourselves in Dubuque, Iowa.  When rolling into town from the Illinois side, we found a small yard in East Dubuque, Illinois.  I photographed the train and light power there, but before we left, we photographed a westbound traveling through as it made a turn to run north up along the river following the western edge of Wisconsin into Minnesota and points west.

Westbound train sitting in yard waiting to head Northwest up to Minnesota and further west.

In Dubuque, Iowa, we checked out Eagle Point Park that provides a great overlook of the Mississippi River, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin.  Very nice!  On our way back into town off the bluff, my wife spotted some locomotives to the west of us.  She directed me down to the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern (DM&E) Railroad (a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railroad) yard in Dubuque.

A southbound sitting in the yard.

While in Dubuque, we explored at the Mississippi River Museum which is at Dubuque Junction (junction between the DM&E and Chicago Central Railroad) which is also the old Burlington Station and Freight house.  

At the back of the museum was the old William M. Black dredge steam boat.  We explored it and was able to snap a photo of a returning DM&E local at Dubuque Junction in front of the Mississippi River Museum.

Rochelle, Illinois
After our trip on the former Rock Island territory, we headed up north to Rochelle, IL and into Wisconsin before spending the night in Rockford, Illinois.  We stopped in at the Rochelle Railroad Park, but unfortunately no trains were present or lined up coming soon.  My plan was just to make a brief appearance here and hope for the best for a train.  It was a Monday so I'm guessing operations were a little slower than it would have been later in the week.  I met some nice guys from Wisconsin that had been watching trains since sunrise.  I believe they were up to 24 by around 2:30pm or so.  It is a nice park to catch some serious action.  Too bad we couldn't stay longer to hang out.

Elizabeth, Illinois
The following day, we traveled west to visit Elizabeth, Illinois which is now part of the Chicago Central Railroad which runs from Chicago west and splits to Sioux City, Iowa and Omaha, Nebraska.  This line was the former Milwaukee Road line as well.  We wanted to visit this small town in honor of my daughter Elizabeth.

Galena, Illinois

We continued west toward Dubuque and came across a really neat old historic town named Galena, Illinois.  The Chicago Central travels through here as well.  This town is full of Civil War History and will definitely top our list to return soon to explore further.

Historical Information found at Ulysses S. Grant's Home in Galena, Illinois.

Looking east on the Chicago Central at Galena, Illinois

The station at Galena, Illinois

Looking west on the Chicago Central at Galena, Illinois

Amtrak will be returning service to this region with the new Black Hawk train.  It will transport passengers from Chicago to Dubuque, IA via Rockford, IL.  It's expected to begin in 2015.  Amtrak originally ran service here between 1974 and 1981.  

It was pretty neat to come across this jewel.  Neither my wife nor I have explored this part of Illinois.  It is some beautiful countryside with nice large rolling hills and vistas where you can see for miles!  

Pawnee, Illinois

On the way back home to North Carolina, we stopped to photograph an eastbound BNSF coal train approaching Pawnee, Illinois.  

Litchfield, Illiniois

On our way home, we also made a quick stop in Litchfield, Illinois assuming this locomotive was parked where I had seen it once before.  Here is the Illini Terminal Locomotive of Respondek Railroad Corp.

This ended our railroad adventures on this 12 day trip across the Midwest.  My original intentions was to only explore the Rock Island lines near where I modeled, but happily gained the opportunity to see so much more.  It was a really great trip that I will remember for some time.  I really look forward to one day when my wife and I can just hit the road and explore America seeing whatever we might come across.   No schedule, no agenda, just whatever strikes our interest.  

The ROCK 3.0: ER Report

No, no, no!  No accident injury on the ROCK again.  Last night, I experienced a rock of a different flavor.  Kidney Stones!  Wow!  That will get your attention.  I was minding my own business one minute, the next thing I know, I'm pacing the floor like I'm about to give birth.  That went on for four hours including a trip to the ER.  I'm happy to report I'm ROCK free now!  

Getting older sucks!  

Hopefully, tomorrow, I can continue with the last installment of my railfanning IL/MO/IA posts.

The ROCK 3.0: Railfanning the Ex-ROCK - Part V - Post #700!

Post #700!!  Can you believe it?  Half the time I research Rock Island related stuff on Google, my own Blog comes up.

Iowa City, Iowa (MP 236.8) (from Chicago)
So, continuing our trek around Illinois, Wisconsin and now into Iowa, we roll up the former Rock Island territory again in Iowa City, IA.  We check into our Comfort Suites in Coralville, IA just outside of Iowa City.  I notice the tracks that run right next to the hotel.  This area was not a bad side of town, but actually pretty nice.  As I'm unloading the van, I hear a train horn.  I go to take a photo and the camera battery dies.  Oh complete sadness!  Although, I'm not sure how good of a shot it would have been as the light was low and the headlights on the locomotives were extremely bright.  I did watch a mixed freight Iowa Interstate (IAIS) train head westbound with lots of corn syrup tank cars and grain covered hoppers.  Sweet!  I'm thinking it was BICB (Blue Island to Council Bluffs) train.

While enjoying the awesome pool, hot tub and 100ft indoor water slide inside the hotel (hands down the nicest Comfort Suites I have ever stayed at), another IAIS train rolls by eastbound.  I'm assuming maybe the counterpart CBBI as it was mixed freight as well.  You gotta love railfanning from the confines of the hot tub.

The next morning, we get up and head down to Iowa City to explore.  We drove down to the yard which is easily accessible via some neighborhood streets without trespassing.

Taken from South Van Buren Street looking north into the yard.

Taken from South Van Buren Street looking north into the yard.

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Taken from a parking lot off the end of Webster Street.

We spotted a Westbound train working the yard.  I have no idea what train this might have been.  I would think either the BICB (Blue Island to Council Bluffs) or ICCR (Iowa City to Cedar Rapids) freight.

Photo taken from South Gilbert Street looking north.

Photo taken from South Gilbert Street looking south.

The Iowa City former Rock Island Depot.  Again, notice the portico.  Pretty small for a cart to fit through.

North side of station looking west.

The east end of the station.

Mmm....The ROCK!

North side of station looking east toward Chicago.

South side of the tracks, looking east toward Chicago.

The same westbound train seen before from Gilbert St.  It is sitting on that bridge in this photo.

We had to wait about 40 minutes or so as it appeared the train was going to leave soon.  I got bored so I was snapping additional photos of the RI station.  My family's patience was awesome!

A ballast shot for the modelers.

A reflection on times passed.

Finally, the train headed west!  Very nice!

The paint scheme on these locos throws the auto focus and lighting off on the camera.  The bright yellow nose and then dark sides creates for some crazy shots on my point-and-shoot camera I was using at the time.

The Westbound IAIS Mixed Freight crosses South Clinton Street headed out of town.

We took a break from trains to explore the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, Old Capital Building, University of Iowa Campus and grab some lunch at one of the local eateries.  We returned early afternoon (one more time) to check out the IAIS before heading down to Missouri.

I found a trio of Norfolk Southern locomotives working the yard on a westbound freight.  Lovely!  I drive over a thousand miles to see and explore new areas just to have the NS Black follow me there!  Damnit!  I would have loved to see some older IAIS EMD units instead.

This train kept messing with me pulling up a little further each time picking up and dropping off various cuts of cars.  Never did he come up to the station so I can get a photo similar to the IAIS freight earlier that morning.  I had monkeyed around with this train long enough and knew we had a ways to drive on our next leg of our adventure.  So, I called it quits taking this last photo as the train crossed South Dubuque Street on the east side of the station.  

With this, on the afternoon of day 3 of our mini-vacation, I was done with the ROCK until next time.  I enjoyed my brief, but very exciting exploration of the former ROCK lines.  I look forward to returning to explore more in the near future!

Maybe one day I can start in Chicago and just follow the line west to see all the remaining Rock Island heritage.

The ROCK 3.0: Various Updates

Various updates on the ROCK.  After our trip to the prototype, I'm gearing up for some work on the layout.

Operations Update
As mentioned before, I'm exploring temporary staging on the west end of my layout.  Here is a concept drawing that I created.  I believe this will work. I have already laid out some test pieces of track (over the existing track).  It looks like it would flow good.  Now, to develop the end cap to the layout for the staging cassette to couple to as well as build out the area in front of Peru Power and Westclox).

Ottawa Local "The Sand Job" Changes

In between sessions, I have been playing around with the scale track and demonstrating the crossing gates at Ottawa Avenue to visitors.  Each time, I return the cut of cars to the loading track at Ottawa Silica and tie down my locomotives adjacent to the small office building on the south end of the plant.

This got me to thinking.  Maybe the Ottawa "Sand job" should originate here vs. in the yard.  The crew would start their day by pulling empties from the various locations (still minding the tracks that can't be worked until the blue flags are taken down), shove the pickups up into the yard and then bring back the cars to be delivered.  This would add more action for the yardmaster throughout the day and ease the bottleneck of cars down between Ottawa Silica and LOF.   This is also more prototypical to the operations described in the article provided by Steve Holzheimer a while back.  

Roster Update
The two Ex-P&LE GP7s I owned have been traded for some other equipment.  They have been removed from the roster. I love the P&LE, but enjoy having all RI power as well.

An Atlas GP38-2 in the blue and white paint scheme has been procured.  It is the #4303 "State of Iowa".  I owned two demon possessed Life-Like Proto 2000 GP38-2s in the past, but they never did run right and had multiple issues.  I loved the locomotives though.  I'm happy to finally own an Atlas version.

An Atlas GP40 #373 in the blue and white scheme has been ordered for delivery around Christmas this year.  In the meantime, to have a set of similarly matched locomotives, I'm leasing a GP38-2 #4304 from a friend until my GP40 arrives.

The roster page of the blog has been updated to reflect these changes.


Track Department Update
A while back I had tore out some track at the east end of Ottawa Yard to add a crossover between tracks 4 and 5.  I had some difficulties with the turnouts and have worked on them off and on.  I received in some materials this week to hopefully remedy the situation and fill the void of track in this area.  This will allow for the Ottawa Local to utilize two tracks for pickups/setoffs when arriving from South Ottawa.

The ROCK 3.0: Staging Yard Possibilities

I typed this up quite a while back but never posted.  I have been working on scenarios in my head of how to add staging west of LaSalle.  Since this time, I discussed with a few local model railroaders.  The idea of a temporary staging yard cassette that would attach to the end of the layout when operating seemed to be the most feasible idea (and less obtrusive overall).  

Luckily enough, my friend Steve H had just this (a staging yard cassette) that he no longer needed.  So, now, I'm in the process of testing to see if it will work and what modifications would be required to the layout.    More to come in follow-up post.

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After running the first op session, I found that I wasn't happy with one thing.  I had to stop the westbound train and take it off the layout as the westbound freight arrived at LaSalle.  It was mainly due to the end of the freight train was back across Mill Street so it just didn't look good.  Majority of the off layout traffic moves west.  I also had an eastbound train that I had to place on the layout.  Again, the front end was past Mill St before I managed to get all the cars on.  A staging yard at this end would be a nice addition, but I'm not sure how or if it can be done.  It would allow for the trains to go through the entire scene I completed.  I don't have much railroad, but would really like to see a train go through what I did create.

Here's my track plan again.

Option 1:

Go through the linen closet and back side of master bedroom closet.  This would provide ideal space for a staging yard, but has many challenges.

1) four holes in the wall. 

2) a lift out section would need to be created in the linen closet to provide access to the shelves between op sessions.

3) The clothes hanger bar for my clothes would need to be move forward by 4".  

4) Most likely plan to meet opposition by other people in the house.

Option 2:

Build a temporary staging yard that would extend out over the staircase 1/2 wall.

Challenges

1) cuts off access up/down stairs.

Option 3:

Create a temporary staging yard that would curve the staging yard to the left to go across the staircase 1/2 wall up to the door for the master bedroom.

Challenges

1) Only would block access to the master bedroom.  Not as bad as that would probably work ok during an op session.  The only thing I worry about is the tight radius onto the 1/2 wall.

2) Again, where to store this when not in use.

Option 4:

Curve the mainline to the right to go under the Storage Shelf with the flat screen TV.  

Challenges

1) It would completely kill my Westclox scene as the tracks would have to be realigned shortly after Mill St to make the turn under the shelf.  This is one of my signature RI scenes and I'm not quick to compromise on this.

2) The TV height now is perfect.  To raise it higher would be too much.  I'm unable to lower the shelf any due to the railroad signs below (no other place to relocate them either).