Years and years ago, I worked for the Santa Fe railroad as a computer programmer and was a foamer. I was told by one who knew much more about operations than I that when some cars absolutely had to go out, they would be placed on the head-end of a piggyback train. They would be on the head-end so that they wouldn''t be forgotten. Thanks for the realism in your piggyback consist.
As someone who has only been in the hobby for 2 years I’m learning so much from all your videos. I also model Rock Island in HO and dream of such a large layout one day. Keep up the excellent work!
Thank you very much for your nice comments and best of luck with your Rock Island layout. It’s great to know that there are others working to preserve the memory of the Rock Island in scale form. Mike
One of the best HO layouts I have seen on RU-vid- love Midwestern railroading from this era and especially the RI, despite having no major connection to it. I just think you've done a fantastic job capturing the essence of the Midwest and the 1970s.
Beautiful layout with well-done locos and rolling stock. I especially appreciate seeing someone modelling the Rock. I grew up in northern Illinois on the Rock Island double-track main west of Chicago. We were well west of Blue Island and Joliet and the freight and passenger trains flew in both directions. Sometimes a passenger train came in so hot it would overshoot the station! The freights ran so fast it sometimes was difficult to count the cars. Great fun for a teen-aged rail fan. Thanks much.
Enjoyed your story about living near the Rock Island and watching trains fly by ....... that's a great memory. Thank you for watching and for your comments! Mike
WOW! What an awesome video! This was like watching a Green Frog video "Rock Island Odyssey". I know I have said it before, but everything flows perfectly together on this railroad from period correct equipment to vehicles, structures, beautiful scenery and perfect weathering. Keep them coming Mike! BTW I am still waiting to see a Rock Island C-415 in one of your videos, you know they had 10 of them and they are such a oddly cool locomotive. LOL I had to tease a little.
Hi David - A C-415 would be nice, but I can't promise that one will make an appearance anytime soon 😊. I appreciate your comments and thanks for watching! Mike
BEAUTIFUL: finally a magnificent model railroad that appears to be REAL! The rolling stock is aged, weathered, it's dirty, rusted, and graffiti - one of the few model RRs that reflect reality today. Thank you Mr. Rimodeller - one of the very best!!
Very nice Ops video, thank you for sharing it with us! I have an Atlas/Kato Rock Island RS1 that runs like a top and I love running it on my CNW layout as a "leased power" unit.
Another fantastic video, Mike. I wished I lived closer, I think it'd be awesome to operated on your system. Great weathering on the diesels, and I really liked the weathering on the cement hoppers the northbound picked up. You are a top notch. modeler.
I always like seeing photos with UP and CB&Q GP20’s in lash ups on the run-through freight trains from Chicago to Grand Island and points west in the 1960’s. Thanks for watching the video. Mike
Thank you for sharing. It was really nice to see the ELSDP-45 show up on Rock Island today. I trust the EMD ran well for you on this trip? Enjoyed the catch.👍
Thanks, Gary. I knew you'd appreciate seeing the ELSDP-45 in action. That particular locomotive is a great puller and runs like a top! I always appreciate you watching and commenting. Mike
You're correct, the Rock Island did not opt for dynamic brakes. I think one of the reasons was their concern about the impact of dynamic braking on the track structure. Mike
Another great video of your awesome layout. What divisions made up the Mid-Continent route? I do like how you have modeled the one station that has the figurine "hooping" up orders. Doing a session like this, have you ever considered just writing up some "orders" pertaining to the trains, just to show us. Too bad you could not get some "flimsies."
Hi Todd - I do use train orders during formal operating sessions and I actually have some original Rock Island flimsies. I'll keep your suggestion in mind about showing an issued train order during a formal operating session. Thank you for your comments! Mike
Hi Jerry - Yes, the Rock Island had some run-through agreements with EL in the 1960's and early 1970's. EL power was common on the RI in the Chicago area and you'd see EL power elsewhere on the system on occasion. Thanks for watching. Mike
Hi Mark - Thanks for watching and for your comments. I painted the fascia with semi-gloss Glidden paint called "Birds Nest" that I had mixed at Home Depot. Birds Nest was one of the color samples offered in their color card selection. Mike
Hi there, as you are big fan of the RI I wonder if you can help me out. I am modelling a Southern Pacific lay-out in the '70 and '80. I am looking to buy a RI locomotive but I don't know about the paintscheme in these years. Red and yellow or brown and yellow?
In the 1970 to 1980 era, you could find about any of the paint schemes on the Rock Island. However, from about 1970-1975 the red and yellow, as well as, the maroon (often mistaken for brown) and yellow with speed lettering on the hood would be appropriate. Then, from 1975 until 1980 (when the Rock Island shut-down operations), the blue and white scheme would fit into the picture (this is the scheme that many refer to as "Bankruptcy Blue"). Hope this helps. Good luck with your SP model railroad! Mike
The sidings vary in length from about 12 feet to about 35 feet and trains can meet in each of the helixes as well (siding capacity in helixes is 100+ cars; however, I don’t run trains that long). Thank you for watching the video. Mike
Trains that operate from one railroad to another may keep locomotives intact instead of changing them out at an interchange point. Pooling power is a common practice among the railroads. Each railroad tracks the number of hours that their power operates on a foreign railroad and hours that foreign power operates on their property. Tracking the hours allows the railroads to balance the time that their locomotives operate on a foreign property (example: railroad X locomotives operated 500 hours on railroad Y; therefore, railroad X is owed 500 hours of railroad Y’s locomotives operating on railroad X’s property). Thanks for watching the video. Mike
