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
------------------------------------------------------
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  -----     -----
------------------------------------------------------

May, 1942         #8      #502      #506      #504
------------------------------------------------------
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
------------------------------------------------------

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
--------------------------------------------
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
--------------------------------------------

May, 1942       #508      #510       #61
--------------------------------------------
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
--------------------------------------------

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
---------------------------------
 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
---------------------------------

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