Rock Island Model Rosters

rockislandmike

Active Member
Yep, noticed that yesterday - seen considerable posts by moderators in our moderators-only forum since it came back online, trying to make sure the dark side doesn't take over again.

HEY, this is what you need for your MOW train . . . only $604US at BPL Brassworks . . . . .

OMI-4312.1 - Overland Models Inc - HO Scale
RI Residual Magnetic Rail Defect Detector #1800A Tow Car and #1800B Trailer Car, FP MOW Orange w/ Black roof and cat whiskers, LTD, LT, Powered
 

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Wolv33

Member
Mike,

That would be a nice piece for a ROCK line. One small problem though....

Have you gone absolutely nuts??!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

:D :D :D

$604!!! Ehhh, I don't EVER think so. Spending that kind of money on ONE item I would NEVER be able to live that one down with 'the Woman'...

Talk about being in the proverbial doghouse for the rest of your life. Hahahahahahaha!!!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :( :D

Thanks for the pic though.

Hey, how come you didn't mention that RRLine was up and running? :(

:) ;)

Later.
 

Wolv33

Member
Actually,

I have two Modern Sperry Rail Car test beds and many modern detectors such as hotbox, defect, etc, embedded in the track.

Now, if anyone made a non-brass Loram rail grinder, I would be the first to get it! LOL!

Later.
 

RI541

Member
white RI caboose

George,

Even I have a white caboose, both in HO and N.

Send me your snail mail address and I'll send you one. I can grab one tommrow at the store.

I'll shoot the breeze with you fine gentelmen later tonight. I gotta take the boy to the monster truck show.
 

IMRL393

Member
Shane -

Thanks for the offer, but Andy knows a dealer who had some, so I've already got one on order! Seem to be good folk to order from - will order from them again.

So... my caboose is in the mail!

That's more than I can say for the P2K GP18 - I think Walthers has lost my order (Made last MARCH, and verified last month, now missing from my order list on the website, with no corresponding shipping number!). I will have a talk with Walthers on Monday about the problem....

Again, thanks anyway, but no thanks!

It's very heart warming to have friends on this forum that are so willing to help a fellow modeler out!

- George
 

kf4jqd

Active Member
Hobby Shoppe

George:

I order everything from The Hobby Connection. Ted sometimes has the same problems as you are having. :( Enfact, he had to reorder some of my stuff several times before he had it!:eek:

Now we need a moment of silence. I have my spare model locomotives on a shelf on display in the bedroom. I was in the shower. I heard a LOAD KA BOOM! I jumper out of the shower, the shelf was on the floor!:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: I fell to my knees and cried. Very minor damage except my favorite locomotive. It's my Athearn GP38 Blue and White. The shell was destroyed. The others was ok.

I had to reoder a new one. I told Ted the sad story. He old me to "rust" it up a bit and put it in a field where I can say a train wreak took place. Not a bad idea! What am I suppose to do with the motor and drive assembly? Any ideas?

Andy

A hard lesson learn!
 

rockislandmike

Active Member
Ack - not "The American Railfan" !!!!!

If the motor/chassis is still in good shape, sometimes you can find Athearn shells on eBay for next to nothing. Or you might be able to use them in something else, like a snowplow or MOW vehicle that you weren't previously planning on powering ???
 

Wolv33

Member
Thank you. You just convinced me to NOT put my expensive stuff on a shelf. Actually, I use those wheeled organizers like you can get at office supply stores and Wallyworlds. They have like 4-8 drawers in them, which are of different sizes-holds parts, rolling stock and motive power really well.

Mike,

Help!!! :(

I am still stuck on this spreadsheet, Dude! That last page 'liquidated' is still not showing anything, and thus will not show anything in the summary page for 'liquidated' cars. I sent you another email sometime today, in the middle of building my third Intermodal crane, and was waiting for your input on that too (the one about the recalculation of cars through the use of RTS and trackage).

Lemme know, when you have time. Thanks again.

Sorry about that crash. I said a prayer for them, and played my TAPS.MP3 for ya, Andy... :( :eek:

Now, got one more question for all you guys. Know anyone who makes an uhhhhh torn down locomotive? I am going to need quite a bit of those to put in my diesel shops. I know I can buy blank shells and dummy chassis for this operation, but was just asking.

Thanks again, Guys.
 

IMRL393

Member
Alas!

Sorry about your loss, Andy. :(

I'll now go with a display cabinet instead of a shelf, too. Like Wolv, I was debating between the two - just sorry that you had to be the one to show us which way to go....

If Ted's or Mike's ideas won't work for you, at least you have a spare motor and drive if there is a problem with your next GP38-2 or similar Athearn model.

That's what I finally did with my P2K E8A Rocket parts after THAT crash (and the reason I only have one E8A on the roster instead of two). It's shocking how much damage can be done in a fall. In the E8As case, not only the shell was destroyed but parts of the drive as well ! At least some parts can be used for spares for the remaining loco. But it was heart breaking to watch it drop to a concrete floor ... I can definately sympathize with you!

I'll be sure and let you know if I see a RI GP38-2 listed on e-Bay.

- George
 

kf4jqd

Active Member
History Lesson

Here's a little history about the early days of the Rock. George, this will interest you too!

Andy



Hurd v. Rock Island Railroad Company
A Turning Point in Abraham Lincoln's Legal Career

Jay Shultz
Washington School, Peoria

On the night of May 6, 1856, the Effie Afton, the fastest sidewheel steamboat on the Mississippi River, ran into the Rock Island Railroad Bridge, thus causing the owner of the boat to sue the Rock Island Railroad Company for Fifty thousand dollars. Abraham Lincoln was retained by the railroad to defend it against the charges brought by the owner of the Effie Afton. More than the loss of a steamboat was at stake. If the railroads could not span the Mississippi River with bridges, then they would not be able to connect the railways in the east to the railways in the developing western United States. Hurd v. Rock Island Railroad Company proved to be a dramatic turning point in the career of Abraham Lincoln as a lawyer.

People were angry when talk of building a bridge across the Mississippi River first began. The Rock Island Railroad Company planned to build a structure from Rock Island, Illinois, to Iowa to make it possible for trains to cross the river. It was to be the first railroad bridge ever to span the Mississippi River, and it was to connect a railway in Illinois with another in Iowa. Despite the objections, construction of the bridge was approved in 1854, thus escalating the controversy. At one point, public protests were so strong that an appeal was made to Jefferson Davis, the Secretary of War, not to break ground on a federally owned island that was needed for the bridge's construction. Steamboat captains despised the bridge because they feared that railroads would overtake them as the principal means of transportation. Railroads needed the bridge to create a transcontinental railway system to carry out the nation's rapid westward expansion. Some people suspected that the collision was an intentional attempt to topple the bridge.

On the fateful night when the Effie Afton crashed into a pier of the railway bridge, the boat caught fire and burned to cinders in less than five minutes due to a small coal stove on board. John Hurd, the boat owner, claimed that the boat sustained fifty thousand dollars in damages. In addition to the loss of the boat, a portion of the bridge was knocked into the river. By the following day, the rest of the bridge caught fire and was completely destroyed. Steamboat captains blew their boat whistles in delight to celebrate the burning of the bridge.

Hurd, the steamboat owner, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Chicago, Illinois, to recover the fifty thousand dollars value of the boat from the owner of the bridge, the Rock Island Railroad Company. Although the boat owner claimed the bridge was a hazard to navigation, the railroad claimed that the lawsuit was a deliberate effort by the boat owner and his supporters to have the bridge destroyed. Chicago bustled with news that a forty-four-year-old trial lawyer from Springfield, Illinois, was about to try a case for one of the biggest railroad and bridge companies in the state. The trial was held in a small Chicago courtroom nicknamed "The Salon." Indeed, it was so small that only the judge, lawyers, clients, and a few spectators could fit into it. The trial was a bitter battle between the two sides. Lincoln's closing argument was so persuasive that the jury was incapable of reaching a decision in favor of either side, so the judge dismissed the case.

Abraham Lincoln was selected by the Rock Island Railroad Company to represent it because of his trial capabilities combined with his previous knowledge of railroad cases. Lincoln mastered all of the facts about the river, the bridge, the steamboat operation, and the crash, and prior to the trial Lincoln visited the crash site. He was brought into the case only four weeks before the trial began. Although Lincoln had many assistants, he took charge and tried the case himself. Hurd v. Rock Island Railroad Company was a pivotal case in Lincoln's career and solidified his reputation as a great trial lawyer. The notoriety he received spread his name across Illinois, and the lessons he learned in this trial and others served him well during his presidency.—[From J.J. Duff, A. Lincoln; F. T. Hill, Lincoln the Lawyer; J. Key, "A. Lincoln," ABA Journal, (Feb. 1994); S. B. Oates, "Abraham Lincoln, Illinois Lawyer" American History Illustrated; F. G. Saltonstall, "Recollections," American History; R Selby, Stories and Speeches of Abraham Lincoln.]

36 ILLINOIS HISTORY / FEBRUARY 1998
 

kf4jqd

Active Member
Modeling the QCA

George:

Wouldn't it be neat to model the Rock Island Line during this time in history in the Quad Cities? Think of it. Steam boats, a turning bridge. Factories. The Rock Island Arsenal. All kind of stuff. Even a Black Hawk Indian or too!

Andy
 

IMRL393

Member
Thanks for posting the historical information about the RI, the QCA and Abe Lincoln, Andy. THERE is some mixture!

An 1856 QCA layout .... I think I would need a much bigger basement and far fewer locomotive types - but I wouldn't have to worry about mixing the wrong color schemes!

No diesels, just steamers ... and just black 4-4-0 steamers at that, I suppose, unless there were some other types by then.

Of course I mean RR steamers, not riverboat steamers - lots of those in that big creek!

I think I would like to SEE such a layout - it would be lots of fun!

But I don't know if I want to DO one!

- George
 

rockislandmike

Active Member
Guys, I ordered a blue caboose yesterday (made by Walthers). I'll let you know what I think when it gets here.

( FYI I also ordered that ATSF Santa Claus caboose that's been showing up in all the Athearn ads recently; I just couldn't resist, and since I run Santa Fe as well . . . . . . )
 

Wolv33

Member
Mike,

what is the part # on that ROCK caboose?

Hey, isn't it a little early for Christmas? I mean, we still have Halloween and Thanksgiving to go through. LOL!

:D :D :D :D

Does this forum support animated GIF files??
 

rockislandmike

Active Member
You know, I was just jotting down some of the stuff I'd buy with any $$$ I get for my b-day later this month. I don't think I'm gonna be able to get it all ($470US). I guess I'll just have to see what I get and then start to list priorities.

My first priority, though, is that Stewart U25B ROCK #201.
 

rockislandmike

Active Member
Sigh. Distressing news. The GP35 undec that I was gonna paint up into a Rock engine arrived today. With dynamic brakes. I'm gonna have to switch it over to MOPAC instead.
 

IMRL393

Member
Too bad, Mike.

Luckily, in 1996 the Rock Island has gone to DBs for some of their locos (like my older Athearn SD40-2 which has them)!

Or you could leave the GP35 as a RI and say they are trying the DBs out as a test!

You can rationalize ANYTHING on your layout !!!

:D


Later!

- George
 
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