Fred Klein,
2010
The Rock Island fielded its first Rockets in 1937 with some semi-articulated Budd built cars, which were pulled by unique TA diesel locomotives (shorter than E units, with a single prime mover and riding on 4-wheel trucks). These first Rockets were made up as mostly fixed trains, as were many other early streamliners like the Pioneer Zephyr. See Mike Schaefer’s article Rock Island’s Original Rocket Streamliners, Model Railroader, May 1980, page 52. After the first Rockets were introduced in 1937, Rock Island’s passenger trains and cars became more standardized with independent cars that could be adjusted as necessary.
The Rocky Mountain Rocket was one of Rock Island’s most long distance trains, extending from Chicago and Kansas City to Colorado Springs and Denver. This route was very competitive with other railroads, and the Rock Island never got a dominant positon. The Rocky Mountain Rocket began in 1939, got new coaches in 1948, new sleepers in 1954, and was cancelled in 1966. Separate sections left Chicago and Kansas City, and joined in Belleville, Kansas to head west as one train. At Limon Colorado, the Rocky Mountain Rocket split into two sections destined for Denver and Colorado Springs. Most of the RMR’s sleepers were built by Pullman Standard, and most of the service cars were built by Budd.
Some web sites have useful information on the Rocky Mountain Rocket:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_Rocket has basic information including a diagram of routes and stops.
http://www.rits.org/www/equipment/rirmr.html has several consists of the train at different times, even though many cars endured for years.
http://www.streamlinerschedules.com/concourse/track8/rockymtrocket194106.html has a 1941 schedule.
A retouched Rock Island photograph of a train shot in the midwest and superimposed in the Rocky Mountains, then colorized. The locomotive is an EMC E3A diesel delivered in 1939, as used on the Rocky Mountain Rocket. Photo from page 131 of The American Streamliner: Prewar Years, by Donald Heimberger and Carl Byron, Heimberger House Publishing, 1996.
The consist of this model train was published by Robert Wayner in Passenger Train Consists 1923-1973, page 22, for a train departing Belleville Kansas on December 10, 1941, three days after Pearl Harbor. I am not a Rock Island modeler, but I’m sure the train would look different in the 1950s, eventually sacrificing the wonderful art deco paint scheme on the locomotive. I end the time period of this model train in the mid-1950s even though the train carried on until 1966. The Rock Island changed cars in its trains frequently during later years using different cars at hand, so the modeler should feel freedom to do the same using plausible cars from his collection.
|
Prototype car |
Prototype name |
Model car |
Model number |
Brand |
prototypical? |
|
E6A diesel |
RI 628 |
DL109 diesel |
RI 621 |
Life like |
yes, but RMR? |
|
AB6 diesel with baggage |
RI 750 |
none |
|||
|
Baggage |
RI 850 |
Baggage |
RI 851 |
decal-concor |
similar |
|
Mail-chair car |
RI 376 Pikes Peak |
Baggage-dorm |
RI 820 |
Con cor |
Yes, not RMR |
|
Coach |
RI 309 Bear Lake |
Coach 64-seat Budd |
RI Bear Lake |
decal-concor |
similar |
|
Coach |
RI 311 James Peak |
Coach (PS 1940) |
RI Wichita |
Con cor |
yes, but RMR? |
|
Coach |
Coach 64 seat (PS) |
RI 160 |
Walthers |
no |
|
|
Diner |
RI 420 Mount Evans |
Diner |
RI Mount Evans |
Con cor |
no |
|
8 sect-5 dbr |
P Thompson Canyon |
decaled coach (PS) |
Pullm Grand
Mesa |
Con cor |
no |
|
8 sect-2 comp-2 dbr |
P Garden of the Gods |
10 rmt-6 br (PS) |
RI Cawker City |
Walthers |
no |
|
10 sect-4 roomette |
P Lawn Lake |
10 rmt-6 br (Budd) |
RI Lawn Lake |
decal-concor |
no |
|
Observation-lounge-5 dbr |
P Thunder Mountain |
Observation |
RI El Reno |
Con cor |
yes |
I do not have most of the prototype cars used on the Rocky Mountain Rocket (except for the prototyoe observation car) because there is not much choice in N scale. One of the coaches and the locomotive make good stand-ins because they were owned by the Rock Island and mostly used on other trains.
The beautiful art deco DL109 diesel is my favorite car of the train. The prototype RMR originally started with an E3 (see postcard above), progressed to an E6 (see consist), but could sometimes have been pulled by a substitute DL109, though it would probably have been underpowered. The Budd baggage car is based on a 1949 California Zephyr prototype, but is a Budd stand-in. The only Rock Island “combine” car I have is a PS baggage dorm made for the Golden State, but it is a poor substitute for the Budd RPO-coach actually used.
The variety of coaches in this RMR model are a 1949 Budd 64-seat coach subbing for a 1939 Budd 52-seat coach, also named Bear Lake; a prewar PS coach of the type owned by the Rock Island but only used on the RMR in substitute mode; and a stray 1950 PS coach. The Budd diner Mount Evans is a stand-in for an earlier 1939 Budd diner of the same name.
The Pullman sleepers before 1948 had “Pullman” in the letterboard, but in that year of divestiture, they were sold to Rock Island and the name was repainted. The sleepers above are a PS coach masquerading as a pre-1948 Pullman sleeper, a 10/6 made by PS, and a Budd 10/6. The observation car including 5 double bedrooms is a 1939 PS prototype as used on the Rock Mountain Rocket.
Randall, David. From Zephyr to Amtrak: A guide to lightweight cars and streamliners, Prototype Publications, 1972.
Wayner, Robert, Passenger Train Consists 1923-1973, Wayner Publications, 1995.
