I must be getting old…I was living in the Chicago area for the fist time back in the late seventies (1978-1982 to be exact) when I was transferred here (I am now back for the past 17 years and here to stay I think) to take my second sales territory, and I personally saw this dead line in Blue Island and found it sad and exhilerating at the same time.
If you are old, I must be mummified.
Those are still one of my favorite engines. I wish I had a recording of the whistle! (at least the CBQ one)
To me that is an excruciatingly sad picture!
I traveled many miles on all those units and put a lot of pride ,plus sweat and even a little blood, into keeping them going as did countless other Rock Island employees. Although I didn’t stay to the end, I really never thought it would end as it did.
Even though I am too young to rembember F units on the Rock Island, this picture indeed is most sad…[:(] I think the Rock abandoned passenger operations in and out of my community prior to 1954, which is the year I was born, but I could be wrong on that point.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816
[bow] To that I can only say, thanks for making them last as long as they did so many of us could see them in operation.
VERY GOOD ! I can remeber when they quit running in Tx. and the crews left them sitting where the clock ran out…Thanks for sharing…Danny
Gee … I must have been there the same day , I remember the Blue Island dead line VERY well, I have several very similer pictures …
…If these F units are currently stored on these tracks as shown, it would seem to me to be a gold mine of parts to short lines or others still trying to operate similar units.
This is quite a line of them.
Sorry, Quentin–that wasn’t a current photo. If you take Jim’s 1982 date as about the latest it could have been, it was probably related to the replacement of these units by F40PHs on Metra, the Rock Island’s 1980 shutdown, or both.
I remember seeing shut-down units at Burr Oak Yard (Blue Island) around then, but don’t remember that they were cab units. They could have been, though.
And Jim, you’re about my age–and I can remember being pushed and/or pulled by some of these, most likely, back in the days when I was exploring the area.
Carl, I drove past Barr Yard 12-01-04 and there were a couple of BN F units E-9s* (cabs) on the north side of the yard, by the golf course. Here’s a pic – it’s not very good because it was backlit by a low, bright sun that day. It was heading a string of hoppers.
*Corrected at 1916. Thanks, Carl.
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Got an E9 there–it ought to do Jim’s heart good! Perhaps someone more “up” on obtaining roster data could tell what happened to that one. Being around at that late date, I would hope it didn’t get scrapped.
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I remember riding the North Shore up to the Naval Base. I don’t have a pic of that, but this is pic of me and first truck.
Cool- back when I was a young boy, my Dad had a pick-up very similar to that one. It was alot of fun riding around in that vehicle.