When was the official end of the Rock Island?

So I've read the last day of Rock Island operations was March 31 1980. But then there's this picture...

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=193944

Which carries a date of 1983 and claims this is a lone movement to allow the estate of the Rock Island to perform a sweeper move and pick p cars in Arkansas. So I assume there were limited CR&P movements after the March 1980 date that would be considered "non-revenue" on behalf of the trustees?

-otto-

If you read the comments beneath the picture, the photographer states that the picture was taken in December of 1980, not 1983, despite the info in the box beneath said picture. The Rock did perform very limited, non-revenue operations after the shutdown date to collect cars from around the system and to gather motive power in central locations. I do not believe these operations would have lasted long into 1981, if at all, and the 1983 date strains credulity.

Whoops, looks like I read too quickly and got the streams crossed.

-otto-

Not to pick nits, but the comments section of the picture says that the RI shut down in 1981. The next sentence says that this was the first move in almost 2 years. The photographer's comments says that he has other pictures taken in 1980. He never refers to the above picture as taken in 1980 or 1981. So the $64k question is: whats the correct date?

Officially, the Rock Island went out of business (i.e., ceased operating as a common-carrier) on March 31, 1980.

The trustee, as part of the liquidation of the property, operated "Trustee's Extras" of equipment on certain lines (ones not being operated by other railroads) in order to reposition equipment for sale/scrapping.

In locations where the RI tracks were otherwise dormant, these trains were operated by former RI managers retained by the trustee for disposition work. Where the RI was being leased or operated by directed service by another carrier, the equipment was interchanged to the operating carrier and forwarded accordingly.

In the summer of 1980, the Trustee's Extras ran across the Illinois main about once or twicce per week. Among other things, saw the 10 SD40-2s on their way to the ICG. When the B&O leased Joliet-Bureau (IL) in August of 1980, the trustee would only operate to Bureau and the Chessie would handle the equipment east dead-in-tow.

The RI trustee/Chicago Pacific Corp. ran these cleanup trains well into 1982 on the east-west main in Iowa and Illinois, until that line was leased to Iowa Railroad (IRRC) and perhpas even later in the area around El Reno, OK.

I know of at least one former RI operating official that was kept in the employ of the estate through most of 1984.

NZ

Thanks very much for that follow-up. During the time of these "Trustee's Extras" was the Rock Island timetable still in effect? Who's authority did they run under? Sounds like a real "skeleton crew" operation.

-otto-

Otto,

Picking apart the RI's carcass WAS a very "skeleton" (insert rimshot here) operation.

AFAIK, there were no dispatchers, per se, they just ran when they needed to. There must have been some kind of General Orders regarding block signals or crossing signals out of service, as my observation was they didn't stop for red or dark signals, but approached road crossings prepared to stop and flag.

I would guess as far as speed limits, etc., the people running the trains were former officials who probably knew the territory like the back of thier hands. If need be, they probably referred to the final ETT (the first and only System Timetable) issued in 1979.

By all indications, it was a pretty unstructured operation.

NZ