After having lunch, we all walked across the street to the boarding area and once aboard, found seats in Car 3.
The conductor punched the passengers' tickets in former Canadian Pacific coach 810 which pulled Montreal commuter trains.
The diesel pulled our train east to the Rock Island.
QJ 7081 pushed on the rear.
The Casino Boat in Rock Island.
The dryland casino.
Looking north across the Mississippi River at downtown Davenport.
Interior of Railroad Development Corporation 109-seat coach 820, ex. Agence métropolitaine de transport 820, exx. Société de transport de la communauté urbaine de Montréal 820, nee Canadian Pacific 820 built by Canadian Car and Foundry in 1963.
The skyline of Davenport across the Mississippi River.
River Walk in Rock Island.
New mileage awaited all of us as we continued to reverse.
Our train was almost to the Rock Island Yard.
We reversed all the way down to the yard.
Moving forward.
Curving onto new mileage as we proceeded to the Government Bridge.
Our train made its way towards the crossing of the Mississippi River.
The side channel of the Mississippi River.
The Rock Island Arsenal.
We crossed the main channel of the Mississippi River.
These rails I rode during the Grand Excursion of 2004.
The QJ took the first curve in Davenport.
This once was a double track railroad.
The location of the former Rock Island station.
Downtown Davenport.
This attractive building was built in 1895 and is home to Davenport City Hall.
There is a section of street-running through the city.
QJ 7081 rounding a curve in west Davenport.
Elizabeth and I aboard this trip en route to Walcott.
This is where we photographed the QJ's this morning at the Central Park Avenue grade crossing.
My good friends Bob and Elizabeth who were to be married on Valentine's Day 2009. May they both be blessed with a long life together!
We reached rural Iowa.
A nice-looking red barn.
Corn fields that have passed their usefulness.
The QJ pulled our train to Milepost 191.0 and stopped since this was the westernmost point to which our train travelled to, although not Walcott. The diesel would pull us back to the Rock Island yard and once there, 7081 would pull us back to the boarding area where we detrained, ending our first trip riding behind a Chinese QJ steam engine. I went off for some pictures.
Our train back at Rock Island.
QJ 2-10-2 7081 at rest.
New Iowa Interstate ES44AC 503, built by General Electric in 2008 was on display.
Another view of QJ 7081. I saw Keith Schmidt across the street and we had decided to go out and photograph the 3:00 PM QJ trip to Walcott while Bob and Elizabeth rode the 3:00 PM trip to Silvis. Keith had two other friends with him, one being Bob Gallegos, so we all piled into his van and drove west to the Central Park Avenue grade crossing.
QJ 7081 pulled the train across Central Park Avenue. I told Keith about a bridge that still had a Rock Island emblem on it and we decided that would be a good picture.
The Rock Island emblem on the bridge, after which we set up for the picture of the train returning from Walcott.
The train returned across that bridge then we went back to Davenport.
The train crossing the Government Bridge between Davenport and Rock Island. We then drove that bridge on the lower level and passed the train but were caught in a traffic jam on the other channel bridge just as the train started to cross their bridge.
A picture through the van's window. I suggested a spot in a parking lot just west of the town center.
The QJ put on a great show as it blew down while passing us. The four of us then decided to do a little railfanning so we made our way back across the Mississippi River and went looking for an Iowa, Chicago & Eastern train.
We found the ICE freight and parked in the driveway of a yacht club to get a few pictures.
Iowa, Chicago and Eastern SD40-2 6437, ex. Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern 6437, nee Union Pacific 3732 "City of Byron" built by Electro-Motive Division in 1980.
Iowa, Chicago and Eastern SD40-2 6442, ex. Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern 6442, exx. Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern 3468, nee Union Pacific 3644 "City of New Rockford" built by Electro-Motive Division in 1979.
Soo Line GP38-2 4511, nee Milwaukee Road 361 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1974. We then drove west back through Davenport to the ICE yard west of town.
Iowa, Chicago and Eastern GP9 112, ex. I&M Rail Link 112, nee SOO Line 2406, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1954 on an industrial lead.
At the yard we found the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern inspection train with ICE GP40-2 4204, Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern "Plum Creek", "Silver Lake" and "The Pioneer".
Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern coach "Plum Creek", ex. Algoma Central 419, nee Canadian Pacific 2119 built by Canadian Car and Foundry and the railway in 1949.
Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern coach "Silver Lake", ex. Algoma Central 418, nee Canadian Pacific 2213 built by Canadian Car and Foundry and the railway in 1949.
Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern business car "The Pioneer", ex. PPCX 800517 "Mount Holly Park", exx. Union Pacific "Houston:1", ex. Missouri Pacific business car 8 1951, nee Missouri Pacific parlour car 10613 built by Pullman in 1925.
A trio of photographs around the ICE roundhouse. We returned to Rock Island and picked up our T-shirts, including Bob's and Elizabeth's, and went across the street to wait for their train to come back from Silvis.
The Silvis train returned to the boarding area.
A nice low-light view of the Iowa Interstate GP38-2 716, ex. Locomotive Leasing Partners 2238 2004, exx. Union Pacific 452 2001, exxx. Union Pacific 1954 1997, exxxx. EMD Leasing 817 1987, exxxxx. Conrail 8017, nee Penn Central 8017 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1972 on this train. I walked to the other end for pictures of the QJ.
QJ 6988 which powered the Silvis Train. Bob, Elizabeth and I went to the car for a few minutes to prepare themselves for tonight's QJ-powered dinner train.
