AMERICA'S STREAMLINERS
ROCK ISLAND LINES
(PRE WW II)
The Rock Island's streamlined trains were known as Rockets. Pre war Rockets included the Peoria Rocket, the Des Moines Rocket, and the Rocky Mountain Rocket. The Zephyr Rocket was jointly operated with the Burlington Route, with each railroad supplying a consist, except for the observation cars which were both owned by Rock Island. Another notable train on the Rock Island was the Golden State, operated jointly with Southern Pacific between Chicago and Los Angeles, but that train was not a streamliner yet. Also worth mentioning are the "AB" locomotives 750 and 751, assigned to the Colorado Springs section of the Rocky Mountain Rocket. These were basically E6B locomotives with a flat nose cab, a single engine, and a baggage compartment. Eventually, the "missing" engines were added and the locomotives operated in Chicago commuter service until the 1970's.
Only streamlined trains and the most important stations are shown.
May, 1942 #501 #7 #505 #503
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Chicago 10:15 am 1:55 pm 5:00 pm 7:00 pm
Peoria 12:50 pm ----- ----- 9:35 pm
Rock Island ----- 4:53 pm 7:53 pm -----
Des Moines ----- 7:55 pm 11:00 pm -----
Omaha ----- 11:02 pm ----- -----
Phillipsburg ----- 2:42 am ----- -----
Limon ----- 6:53 am ----- -----
Denver ----- 8:25 am ----- -----
Colorado Spr. ----- 8:35 am ----- -----
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May, 1942 #8 #502 #506 #504
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Colorado Spr. 12:45 pm ----- ----- -----
Denver 1:00 pm ----- ----- -----
Limon 2:40 pm ----- ----- -----
Phillipsburg 7:19 pm ----- ----- -----
Omaha 12:06 am ----- ----- -----
Des Moines 2:55 am ----- 7:15 am -----
Rock Island 5:58 am ----- 10:19 am -----
Peoria ----- 7:00 am ----- 3:00 pm
Chicago 8:50 am 9:40 am 1:15 pm 5:35 pm
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PEORIA ROCKET (#501-#502-#503-#504)
(required 1 set)
(all cars built by Budd in 1937)
TA Locomotive (from series 601-606)
Baggage Dinette 400 - Joliet
60 Seat Coach 306 - Ottawa
76 Seat Coach 300 - La Salle
Parlor Lounge Observation 450 - Peoria
DES MOINES ROCKET (#505-#506)
(required 1 set)
(all cars built by Budd in 1937)
TA Locomotive (from series 601-606)
Baggage Dinette 401 - Norman Judd
60 Seat Coach 307 - Grenville Dodge
76 Seat Coach 301 - Henry Farnam
Parlor Lounge Observation 451 - L. M. Allen
ROCKY MOUNTAIN ROCKET (#7-#8)
(required 2 sets)
(sleeping cars built by Pullman-Standard in 1939)
(other cars built by Budd in 1939)
E6A Locomotive 628/629
AB Locomotive Baggage 750/751 (Col. Spr.)
Baggage 850/851
Mail Coach 375 - Mesa Verde/376 - Pikes Peak (to Col. Spr.)
52 Seat Coach 308 - Dream Lake/310 - Longs Peak
52 Seat Coach 309 - Bear Lake/311 - James Peak
Diner Lounge 420 - Mount Evans/421 - Centennial
10S/4R Sleeper Odessa Lake/Lawn Lake
8S/2BR/2C Sleeper Garden of the Gods/Grand Mesa (to Col. Spr.)
5BR Buffet Observation Phantom Valley/Thunder Mountain
May, 1942 #509 #507 #62
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Minneapolis ----- 12:01 pm 5:00 pm
St. Paul ----- 12:27 pm 5:30 pm
Manly ----- 2:45 pm 8:05 pm
Des Moines ----- 5:03 pm -----
Kansas City 9:15 am 9:00 pm -----
Topeka 10:23 am ----- -----
Wichita 1:00 pm ----- -----
El Reno 3:45 pm ----- -----
Fort Worth 7:25 pm ----- -----
Dallas 8:15 pm ----- -----
Cedar Rapids ----- ----- 10:50 pm
Burlington ----- ----- 1:30 am
Hannibal ----- ----- 4:15 am
St. Louis ----- ----- 7:00 am
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May, 1942 #508 #510 #61
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St. Louis ----- ----- 5:30 pm
Hannibal ----- ----- 7:47 pm
Burlington ----- ----- 10:40 pm
Cedar Rapids ----- ----- 1:05 am
Dallas ----- 9:15 am -----
Fort Worth ----- 10:05 am -----
El Reno ----- 1:55 pm -----
Wichita ----- 4:36 pm -----
Topeka ----- 7:07 pm -----
Kansas City 11:10 am 8:15 pm -----
Des Moines 3:04 pm ----- -----
Manly 5:18 pm ----- 3:58 am
St. Paul 7:38 pm ----- 7:00 am
Minneapolis 8:08 pm ----- 7:30 am
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ROCKET (#507-#508)
(required 2 sets)
(all cars built by Budd in 1937)
TA Locomotive (from series 601-606) /(from series 601-606)
Baggage Dinette 404 - Arrow Head /405 - Mesabi
76 Seat Coach 304 - Chippewa /305 - Ioway
Coach Parlor Observation 454 - Minnesota /455 - Missouri
ROCKET (#509-#510)
(required 2 sets)
(all cars built by Budd in 1937)
TA Locomotive (from series 601-606) /(from series 601-606)
Baggage Dinette 402 - Cherokee Strip /403 - Cimarron River
76 Seat Coach 302 - Sunflower State /303 - Chisholm Trail
Coach Parlor Observation 452 - Lone Star /453 - Sooner State
ZEPHYR ROCKET (#61-#62)
(required 2 sets)
(all lightweight cars built in 1940/RI cars by PS/CB&Q cars by Budd)
(all sleepers and RI baggage cars were heavyweight)
("Silver" cars and "Minneapolis" and "Zephyr Tower" owned by CB&Q)
E5A/E6A Locomotive 627 /9913 - Silver Wings
Baggage Mail 500 /1601 - Silver Mail
Baggage 861 /902 - Silver Express
52 Seat Coach 312 - Waterloo /4709 - Silver Castle
10S/3BR Sleeper Cedar Rapids /Minneapolis
8S/1DR/3BR Sleeper Rocket Tower /Zephyr Tower
Diner Parlor Observation 433 - St. Paul /432 - St. Louis
#51 May, 1942 #52
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8:30 pm Memphis 9:55 am
10:55 pm Little Rock 7:20 am
1:44 am Booneville 4:32 am
6:10 am Shawnee 12:12 am
7:13 am Oklahoma City 11:20 pm
7:54 am El Reno 10:40 pm
10:24 am Sayre 8:00 pm
1:05 pm Amarillo 5:20 pm
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CHOCTAW ROCKET (#51-#52)
(required 2 sets)
Baggage Mail (heavyweight) /(heavyweight)
68 Seat Divided Coach 350 - Amarillo/351 - Oklahoma City
8S/5BR Sleeper Seminole /Wewoka
Diner Parlor Observation 430 - Memphis /431 - Little Rock