This dinner menu dates from 1965. Though a single card the same size as the 1966 breakfast menu, the smaller print indicates a wider variety of choices. Still, rivals City of Los Angeles and Super Chief/El Capitan continued to use … Continue reading
Category Archives: CRI&P
Like the breakfast menu, the Golden State‘s lunch menu by the mid-1960s had become a single card. This 1967 menu is on pink paper, instead of cream, and is slightly smaller than the 1966 breakfast menu. Company offers the high … Continue reading
This 1966 breakfast menu is all contained on one side of a single card, as opposed to the folders used for 1950s Golden State menus. At least the train has a menu: by April, 1964, passenger ridership had fallen so … Continue reading
Passengers on the Golden State or another Rock Island train might get tickets in this ticket envelope, the gold color of which is possibly meant to be a reminder of the train name. Click image to download a PDF of … Continue reading
This colorful booklet describes the Golden State, the streamlined train that replaced the heavyweight Golden State Limited in January, 1948. The inside back cover of the brochure is marked “1-53,” suggesting it was printed in 1953, the last year the … Continue reading
In February, 1956, just a month after the Aerotrain made its first revenue run, the Rock Island Railroad placed the redundantly named Jet Rocket in service between Chicago and Peoria. The train consisted of cars built by ACF combined with … Continue reading
While the Pere Marquette and Empire Builder were the first post-war trains, the Rock Island holds the honor of being the only railroad allowed to introduce a new passenger train during the war. In January, 1945, the Twin Star Rocket … Continue reading
The logo for the Golden State was a cluster of oranges, and the SP-RI used this on the drumhead on the back of the train, stationery, menus, and other items. It looks very nice on the on-board stationery, which is … Continue reading
Both the Southern Pacific and the Rock Island jumped the gun in advertising the 39-3/4-hour Golden Rocket before SP cancelled the train in 1947. I’ve already shown the Southern Pacific’s ad; here is the Rock Island ad from 1946. Click … Continue reading
With the advent of the Super Chief and City of Los Angeles, passengers had a choice of carriers that would whisk them from Chicago to Los Angeles in under 40 hours. But there was a third route between the second- … Continue reading