It has always been a mystery, even during the years I worked the line and witnessed the relentless decay that could never halt the amazing amount of traffic it carried, why the original mainline of the Burlington Cedar Rapids and Northern… the 99 miles between the two named cities… was not acquired by the Burlington Northern, or any other carrier for that matter, after the last wheel turned on that segemnt of the Rock Island. It represented the only direct route between Saint Lous and the Minnesota Twin Cities and would have shaved miles and miles off of the existing service. Immediately following the CRIP’s death, Kansas City Southern expressed much interest in the line but, suddenly, withdrew any proposal for purchase. The track has long since been removed, but, with potential interchange at Columbus Junction and West Liberty, to say nothing of the opportunity for traffic from Cedar Rapids and Waterloo (if further planning had allowed for obtainment of the entire line to Manly and it’s connection with the CNW) causes one to wonder if it would have been a solid investment. Dan Sabin has done an outstanding job with the Iowa Northern from Cedar Rapids to Manly and, with the entire stretch of railroad remaining active, who knows what could have been accomplished. Obviously, the point is mute, but, in reading the numerous responses to the question posed, it seems yet another example of an industry in a hurry to rid itself of body parts it could have put to very good use.
If the shortest route has less customers along the line then why would another RR give up their parallel line?
You might try to get a hold of a copy of “Railroad HIstory”, Number 181, published by the Railway and Locomotive Historial Society.
It contains a very good article: “Liquidating the Rock” by Richard J. Lane. Lane had been a CRI&P employee since 1951 and was involved in the liquidation process.
Gibbons job after being ordered to liquidate was not to ensure the continuation of rail service, but to get the best price he could for all property sold. At that, he did a very good job.
A while back on the RITS group there was a discussion of this. There were a few segments where there was interest, but Gibbons wouldn’t come down on price and ultimately the lines were scrapped.
I seem to recall about someone proposing to start up a short line from Burlington north at least to Columbus Jct, but it never went anywhere.
Jeff
Yes, Lane goes over that sort of thing.
People would show up with no experience or financial backing and want Gibbons to virturally give them a railroad line. Lane cites an example of one potential purchaser stating that he had railroad experience by virtue of being a former streetcar motorman.
Gibbons had to balance out a lot of things. By paying off the creditors he helped keep the financial markets open to railroads. By ensuring lenders that they would get repaid he enabled railroads to borrow money. If he would have just given lines away to anyone interested there would have been much more restrictive lending. I can’t think of a significant mistake that was made in liquidating the Rock Island (Maybe, Memphis-Amarillo).
Basically, the best evaluation of the worth of a Rock Island segment was what someone was willing and able to pay for it. If they wouldn’t pay more than the net salvage value the line wasn’t viable finacially. Do you know of an instance when Gibbons refused an offer that exceeded the salvage value? Maybe he made a mistake and did so in a few instances. But generally, if he could get more selling the line for operation than he could for scrap he’d sell it for operation.
I’m not saying that Gibbons was wrong, or that scrapping some lines was a mistake because he wouldn’t come down on price. After being ordered to liquidate, his job was to protect the creditor’s interests.
I do think scrapping the Memphis-Amarillo line (some segments still operating) was a mistake, but from what little I have read on RITS discussions and elsewhere the problem wasn’t what Gibbons wanted for the trackage. There were other interests who really didn’t want the Santa Fe, the most likely buyer, to get that line. The sad thing is the RI poured a lot of money into rebuilding that line. Money that maybe if they had used instead on what would’ve been the core system, might have had things turn out differently.
Well, not too much differently. Even if the RI had reorganized as an operating, but smaller railroad, it would still have wound up in one of today’s mega railroad systems, probably the UP where most of the rest is. About the only difference then would be the UP running Chicago - Council Bluffs instead of IAIS.
Jeff