My home town of Sioux Falls, South Dakota was once served by five different railroads; Great Northern, Chicago & Northwestern, Illinois Central, Milwaukee Road and the Rock Island. The Rock Island had a roundhouse and a turntable within a couple blocks of where I live and these facilities were torn town several years ago to make room for an apartment complex.
Does anyone out there know for sure when the Rock Island abandoned Sioux Falls, and when the last Rock Island passenger train or freight train departed my area for the last time? Some of the remaining trackage which was originally laid by the Rock Island is now owned by the Ellis & Eastern Railroad Company, which in turn is owned by Concrete Materials.
The old Rock Island Passenger depot on 10th Street in downtown Sioux Falls is still there, even though all the trackage was torn up a good many years ago.
It housed three different restraunts and all three failed. I think this historic structure now houses offices of some sort.
There is a building at the corner of 7th Street and Phillips Ave. in downtown Sioux Falls which may at one time been the Rock Island’s freight depot and could have also doubled as office space for the Rock Island. It has the familiar, distinctive Rock Island logo on the south side, near the top of the building. Does anyone out there know more about this building than I?
I am considering eventually joining the Rock Island Historical & Technical Society in my efforts to learn more about the Rock in this area.
CANADADIANPACIFIC2816
Try either one of these groups. I belong to both and trust me there is someone on one of them that knows every tidbit on the Rock. I am pretty much a newbie compared to some of these guys. Willy
Route_Rock@yahoogroups.com
CRIP_RR@yahoogroups.com
Post your questions and they will either answer or direct you to the right person.
Thanks Willy! I’ll check these two out.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816
This link will take you to the RI Technical Society’s abandonment list. It gives the year of abandonment.
http://www.simpson.edu/~RITS/structures/rigone.html
Jeff
The Ellis and Eastern is operating on a former CSPM&O (C&NW) line. Do they have a short stub of CRI&P track as well ?
Norris (Murphy Siding) lives in Sioux Falls and knows a fair amount about the history there.
nanaimo73:
Much of the trackage that the Ellis & Eastern operates on is ex-Chicago & Northwestern trackage. However, I once looked at an old map of my neighborhood and found that the stretch of trackage directly west of my house was labled CRI&P, so I have assumed that this stretch of track was originally laid by the Rock Island. I know that after the Rock abandoned operations in 1972 the C&NW took over it, and I clearly remember the C&NW running rock and gravel trains over this same segment of rail during the mid-70’s. Mr. Norris might know a little more than I know and I think I will eventually have a chat with him.
As an added note, the Ellis & Eastern crosses the Sioux River barely two blocks from my house and I have determined that this iron, twin span bridge was erected by the Laggin (I’m not sure of the spelling) Iron Works of Chicago in 1893. There is a builder’s plate on the south end of the bridge. The construction of this bridge was done all with nuts and bolts, and I have not been able to find any trace of any welding in it. It’s too bad that I can not go back in time and watch Laggin Iron Works errect this bridge with the kind of tools that were available at the time. It would have been interesting to watch the bridge take form.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816
I’m not originally from this area, so I don’t know my local rail history very well. It’s my understanding that the E&E is all on former CNW track. The question mark in my mind would come from the track south of the bridge. It turns from due south to southwest. Looking at that area, it looks as if maybe a branch went straight south into the old warehouse area south of 14th street. A good source of reference is at the downtown library. In the back corner(the Caille ) room, in a cabinet full of drawers, are old fire maps from about 1907, showing most of the downtown buildings and rail sidings-most interesting.