A full-page ad on the inside back cover of this timetable highlights the “Rock Island States of America,” fourteen states served by that railroad. This reminds me that the Rock Island and the Burlington were very similar railroads serving largely the same territory. An objective look at just their routes in the mid-1950s might make one conclude that, if one were to survive and other disappear, it would have been the Rock Island that survived and the Burlington that would disappear.

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Both served the same core states: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Texas. Both also reached a corner of New Mexico and one end of South Dakota. Rock Island had a strong network in Kansas while Burlington reached Kansas only on a couple of minor branch lines. Rock Island went to Memphis, Tennessee while Burlington went to Paducah, Kentucky. Continue reading →

“When Old Man Weather gives you the cold shoulder, there’s only one thing to do,” says the advertisement on the front cover of this timetable: “hie yourself off to Southern Arizona or California, where Nature has done such a noble job in providing year ’round, pleasure-loving ‘spas.'” The “hie” is in reference to the accompanying illustration, which shows cowboy- and cowgirl-dudes and their horses. According to the Oxford Dictionary, however, “hie” has its origins in Old English, not the Old West.

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The ad notes that the Golden State offered, among other luxuries, “Complimentary hors d’oeuvres for Pullman passengers.” Passengers from the east could take a through sleeper from St. Louis or a through sleeper or through day-night coach from the Twin Cities, which cars would be “entrained” into the Chicago-originated Golden State in Kansas City. Continue reading →

The Golden State was “the train to the Southwest,” says the front cover ad, “where the sun shines in Arizona and southern California.” As savvy ticket agents might tell travelers, the Santa Fe might also have gone through Arizona, but the northern part of the state served by the Santa Fe was much cooler in winter and didn’t see as much sunshine as the southern part of the state.

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The Golden State and Imperial carried passengers from Chicago to Los Angeles. Via the Cherokee, the Imperial also carried passengers from Memphis to Los Angeles. Rock Island also had a line from St. Louis to Kansas City that would have allowed a St. Louis section of the Golden State or Imperial, just as the City of St. Louis, going over the Wabash, was in essence a St. Louis section of the City of Los Angeles. Continue reading →

“For complete travel satisfaction,” says the front cover of this timetable, “you can rely on the Rockets. The Golden State and the Rockets were Rock Island’s premiere trains, so since yesterday’s October 1952 timetable advertised the Golden State on its front cover, it is appropriate that this would should advertise the Rockets. The list of “Rocket Routes” includes seven Rockets and the Golden State, a faint reminder that it would have been the Golden State Rocket if Southern Pacific had not cancelled it.

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The Rock Island had plenty of other passenger trains, of course. Named trains included the Des Moines Limited/LaSalle Street Limited, #5 & 6 connecting Des Moines with Chicago; the Mid-Continent Special, #15 & 18 between the Twin Cities and Kansas City; the Imperial, #39 & 40 to Los Angeles; the Choctaw, #51 & 52 between Memphis and Amarilla; and the Cherokee, #111 & 112 between Memphis and Tucumcari with through cars to Los Angeles on the Imperial. Except for the Choctaw and Cherokee, these were all secondary trains to one of the Rockets or the Golden State (and the Choctaw was secondary to the Cherokee). Continue reading →

In 1951, the Rock Island’s passenger trains were completely Dieselized while it still used both steam and Diesels for hauling its freight trains. At least, that’s the implication of this cover (which is the back cover), which shows multiple Diesels on the right representing the Rockets and a steam locomotive and Diesel in freight covers on the left representing “America’s Most Modern Freight Service.”

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In fact, this timetable shows numerous local trains, such as Horton Kansas to Fairbury Nebraska or Billings to Ponca City, Oklahoma. I suspect that many of these were still pulled by steam locomotives in 1951. Continue reading →