Railroad Photo Archive Now Available Online

The Lake States Railway Historical Association has posted on its website an archive of its collection of more than 35,000 images.

“Rail historians, prototype modelers, authors, editors, archivists, and others will find this a valuable research tool, easily accessible from anywhere.” Said LSRHA vice president Paul Swanson.

“We plan to continue scanning negatives and transparencies from our collections for the foreseeable future. We want these to be available to the community.”

Among the photographers whose work is represented in the archive are Chicago natives Bruce Meyer and Lee Hastman, Wisconsin native Ed Wilkommen, DeKalb-based school superintendent F.R. Ritzman, and avid collector William S. Kuba from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

There are also collections of Illinois Central and Rock Island company photography, builders’ photos from AC&F and Ohio Falls Car Manufacturing Company, and some photo postcards.

Prints and digital images are available for sale with proceeds supporting the association’s archives operation.

Once an Occasional Sight at Wilbeth Road

Been to the Wilbeth Road footbridge in Akron recently? Then you didn’t see this. Rock Island 244 leads three Rock Island GE U-Boats east on the Erie Lackawanna. It is the early 1970s, and Rock Island; Delaware and Hudson; and Boston and Maine pool power sometimes came through Akron.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

 

The Whole Was More Powerful than the Parts

It is August 12, 1972, and Mike Ondecker and I have been given permission to take photographs around the Rock Island engine facility at Joliet, Ill.

At the time, I took mostly roster shots instead of train shots. Had I concentrated on a roster shot of Rock Island 641, the shadow of the sand tower on the rear of the unit would have driven me mad.

Here was an E7A in beautiful light, yet it had that distracting shadow. Thankfully, I stepped back and got more of the whole scene.

That engine house had certainly seen better days and while the rectangular 35mm slide format cut off part of the sand tower, enough was there so that there weren’t two strange diagonally-running pipes appearing out of nowhere.

Also, a roster shot would have cropped out part of the reflection. Did I plan the image this way? No. I just took it to have something.

Yet 40 plus years later, it serves as a good example of the whole image being far more powerful than its individual parts.

Article and Photograph by Robert Farkas

 

 

Akron Gets a Piece of the Rock

 

Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific No. 220 heads west through Akron on the Erie Lackawanna on a cloudy late day in the late 1960s or early 1970s.  It was not uncommon to see run-through foreign power or leased power on the EL, but few of the newer members might realize this. Sorry about the less-than-great image, but the original negative was damaged.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

 

My Last Train at Joliet Union Station

Metra Rock Island District train passes the tower as it pulls into Joliet station. That signal will be replaced.

At the tail end of a week out west I stopped in Joliet, Ill., for the last light of the day on a Sunday evening.

The new station cutover was imminent, so I stopped for one last Rock Island Line Metra train before heading on east for the night.

Some Internet reports had stated that this particular day was to be the last for the original Joliet station, but construction delays postponed it another week.

Regardless, it would be my last opportunity to photograph a Metra train on the ex-Rock Island tracks at the old station.

Those passenger trains will no longer cross the diamonds and stop at the old station. The new station was constructed so the Metra trains would stop short of the diamonds with the busy freight railroads.

Amtrak will also vacate Joliet Union Station and do its station work on the ball field side of the tracks. The old station will not be torn down, but its days as a passenger station are over.

Even though it had been overcast most of the afternoon, the sun made a late day appearance for my “last train.”

Article and Photographs by Roger Durfee

Pulling up to do its passenger work.

Another platform view.

View of the station platform area.

Stainless steel and station lights.

Real life on the left, modern art reflections on the right. CVSR trains are not the only ones that cater to bikers.

Joliet station canopy reflected in the windows of a Metra coach.

These stairs no longer lead “to trains.”

The conductor observes his train as departure time draws near.

The Rock Island Was Alive Last Weekend

I railfanned in the Chicago area last weekend.  One of our stops was, of course, Blue Island.

As we pulled up traffic was backed up for a train.  For the uniformed, four railroads cross the main street at grade with another crossing all this on bridges.

Imagine a street crossing at Berea right near the tower with two more railroads as well.  That is the situation here.

Anyhow, as we waited for that train to clear an Iowa Interstate train led by the Rock Island

heritage unit went by.

Normally a chase would ensue, but in this case we knew that this train would return. The Iowa Interstate has trackage rights on the former Rock Island track. This line crosses over the others and the streets via several bridges.

But there is also an interchange track that connects to the CSX, Canadian National, and Indiana Harbor Belt. This is done with a reverse move.

This particular train of about 200 cars, mostly ethanol but also some grain, was going to the IHB.  Of course we waited for the engines to shove this massive train back.

During this move, which took about an hour, a few other trains passed on the other tracks.  One was a Indiana Harbor Belt local with a new Geneset and a caboose.

Several of the grain cars in the Iowa Interstate train were of Rock Island origin and the lettering and logos created a ghostly effect.

That plus the heritage engine and also on old logo on the street overpass created somewhat of a time warp if only for the afternoon.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

 

Still Rockin’ After All These Years

The Rock Island logo is badly fading, but still visible on this covered hopper in Kent. The car now carries WE reporting marks.

The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad ceased operations on March 31, 1980, but every once in a while you can still spot RI rolling stock. Such was the case on Sunday when I captured two ex-RI covered hoppers in Kent, Ohio.

The two cars were part of a string of hoppers at the Star of the West grain elevator that sits alongside the former Erie Railroad mainline. The ex-Erie tracks are now operated by the Akron Barberton Cluster Railway and the grain facility has a trackmobile to shuffle cars around. The ex-RI cars now carry Wheeling & Lake Erie reporting marks.

Photographs by Craig Sanders

The RI logo on this car has pretty much survived but the blue paint and the “The Rock” slogan are rapidly fading away.

An eastbound CSX manifest freight passes on the ex-Baltimore & Ohio line along the Cuyahoga River with a covered hopper in tow that is of more recent vintage.

Iowa Railroad Relic Still Kicking

I’m finally back from my wanderings west of here. Shown is one little gem that we spotted near Hartly, Iowa. It is ex-Waterloo Railroad SW900 No. 1.

This locomotive was built by EMD in 1957 the year after Illinois Central and Rock Island railroads acquired the former Waterloo and Cedar Falls Rapid Transit Company and renamed it the Waterloo Railroad.

The routes dates to 1896 as the Waterloo Street Railway. By 1913, the then named Waterloo, Cedar Falls & Northern Railway Company had completed its route between Waterloo and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The company offered interurban railway service through the late 1950s.

The Rock Island sold its share of the Waterloo Railroad to the IC in 1968. The locomotive shown here is painted in the IC colors that were in use in the late 1960s and into the Illinois Central Gulf era. The Waterloo Railroad had at least four SW900 switchers, all built in June 1957.

Most of the original Waterloo Railroad was abandoned in the 1980s.

Photograph by Roger Durfee