Rock Island E8A 650 leaving La Salle Street Station of Chicago

A Rock Island Rail Freight Train is seen here heading south through Sumner, MS., on their way south to Swan Lake to interchange with Canadian National. GMTX GP15-1 #415 has since been repainted in... (more)

A Rock Island Rail Freight Train is seen here departing Clarksdale, MS., on their way south to Swan Lake to interchange with Canadian National. GMTX GP15-1 #415 has since been repainted into the R... (more)

Dressed-up in full "wings" treatment, RI GP7 1226 with F7(A) 103 lays over at Council Bluffs, Iowa on April 27, 1958. Photo by L.E. Stagner, from my slide collection.

Built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in October 1941, Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad E6A 630 was one of five E6As purchased by the railroad. The E6s earned their keep pulling ... (more)

Rock Island GP40's 383, 396 and 390 are at Chrome Crankshaft facility in Colton preparing to be scrapped.

Rock Island Rail 2127 rests in Sumner, Mississippi.

Fix It And Shoot It. On August 10, 2021, the lettering was completed on Rock Island Rail 2127 (née-CNW 8544, C40-8C). It sits next to RILX 4310 (née-SOU 2764, GP38) in the pre-dawn hours ... (more)

Lettering. In the pre-dawn hours of August 10, 2021 in Sumner, Mississippi, the lettering was completed on Rock Island Rail 2127 (née-CNW 8544, C40-8C). The unit was not operable at the ti... (more)

Rock Island BL2 429 MU'ed with BL2 425 layover between freight runs at Peoria on April 2, 1960. Despite the uniqueness of BL2s, they had almost seventeen years of service before going to EMD as t... (more)

An EMD-repowered FA, the 139, shows the middle-period maroon color, but with the Rocket-era lettering of the original scheme.The view is at Rio Grande's Denver yard on September 7, 1964. Photo fr... (more)

Dressed-up in the full "wings" treatment, the 1293 was working the Peoria yard in April 1960. Photographer M.L. Powell, R Lalonde collection.

Summer In Sumner. On the very warm early morning of Tuesday, August 10, 2021, the Rock Island pair of 2127 (C40-8) and 4310 (GP38) sit in the town square of Sumner, Mississippi at sunrise n... (more)

The first sunrise is approaching Rock Island Rail's Dash 8-40C with all of its lettering completed, posed alongside GP38 #4310, in Sumner, Mississippi.

Rock Island Rail's colorful equipment is seen here gathered by their office at dusk.