Preliminary Information

The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was an American Class I freight railroad commonly known by several names:

• The Rock Island

• The Rock Island Line 

• The Rock (During its Twilight Years)

The first Rock Island train operated on October 10, 1852, between Chicago and Joliet. The line continued to be constructed through La Salle and finally reached Rock Island on February 22, 1854, making it the first railroad to connect Chicago to the Mississippi River. On April 22, 1856, the Rock Island Bridge was completed, connecting Rock Island to Davenport, Iowa; the bridge was 1,582 feet long, with the draw span at a length of 285 feet. 

The railroad operated some of the most iconic passenger services during its time; these services included the Peoria Rocket, Des Moines Rocket, Minneapolis Rocket, Texas Rocket, and Kansas City Rocket, just to name a few. They occasionally did joint operations with the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) on the Golden State Limited, competing with the popular Santa Fe Super Chief passenger trains. However, after the formation of Amtrak in 1971, the Rock Island was down to only two passenger trains, those being the Peoria Rocket and Quad Cities Rocket. 

Despite the railroad’s fame, it struggled financially due to the massive network of tracks and the competition with other major railroads. In 1964, there was a planned merger between the Rock Island and the Union Pacific Railroad (UP); however, due to the long 10-year wait period, by 1974, the Rock Island wasn’t seen as an attractive prospect as it had been in the 1950s. After the railroad filed for bankruptcy in 1975, it later dealt with a crippling strike in August 1979, which ended in the fall of that same year after the government stepped in, with President Jimmy Carter declaring the strike a threat of depriving a section of the country of transportation service. 

Then, on March 31, 1980, the railroad was forced to liquidate all its assets: tracks, engines, and rolling stock. The Rock Island became the first major railroad to sell off all its equipment, officially shutting down that same year. 

However, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel:

• On November 2, 1984, the Iowa Interstate Railroad was formed, running on the Rock Island’s original Chicago-to-Omaha main line; the railroad also honors its predecessor railroad with unit #513 painted in a commemorative Rock Island paint scheme and unit #516 painted up in a Rock Island-inspired paint scheme for the Iowa Interstate’s 30th anniversary. The railroad also owns two ex-China Railways QJs #6988 and #7081 that operate for special excursions and fundraising events. 

• In 2017, the Rock Island rose once again as a Class III railroad headquartered in Hernando, Mississippi, running between both Mississippi and Kansas. The new Rock Island units are painted in the “reborn blue” paint scheme, which was originally called the “bankruptcy blue.” 

• In late 2021, National Railway Equipment (NRE) sold Rock Island’s Silvis Shops to the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America (RRHMA), with plans to refurbish the facility to maintain and operate historic steam and diesel locomotives.

While the original Rock Island is gone, the railroads and historians of today help keep the name of the Rock Island alive and well. 

Fun Fact: On May 6, 1856, a steamboat named the Effie Afton struck the Rock Island Bridge, causing both the boat and a span of the bridge to be engulfed in flames. This incident was brought to court, where a young Abraham Lincoln, who was a lawyer at the time, was hired to defend the Rock Island Railroad.