Back in the mid 1980’s during my Soo Line Years we had a Rock Island Interchange between the Soo and Rock Island. The Rock Island provided the locomotives and the Soo provided the crews. The cars were a mixture of just about everything and it always surprised me that the cars could make
it from El Paso to Mpls in less than two days. Of course the train was a mixture of cars from various originations from the South and West. One day
when the train called for a track at Shoreham Yard they had almost 200 cars. So I yarded them on the Park Tracks anyway this route required them to
make a large circle completed change directions and instead of going west they would come around end up going east and then would have to double over to another track as they were so long and the crew called me and stated they were running out of room and were pulling up to the end of the trains caboose.
Well anyway turned out they had less than two car lengths giving them just enough room to make the double over.

Another time I was on vacation and driving from Mpls. to New Mexico somewhere out in Western Kansas the hiway was along the Rock Island’s mainline
and any I was going 70 and there was a Rock Island Work Train running along side of me and they actually passed me. It was a work train with only
a few cars and some sort of burrow crane. I figured they were possible on short time and making a run for the terminal.

The Rock Island Railroad did not get into the Amntrak System back when they took over most all of the psgr services in the US. Anyway they were
having financial problems and still trying to turn a large profit off their psgr trains. This was the early 1970 maybe 1973. Anyway it was a bit after
the BN merger with the CBQ-NP&GN railroads. And shortly after the merger the BN was the first railroad in decades to build a very large Hump Yard
in Mpls., Mn. I think the CS Colorado Southern joined the BN early 1981 as I was out in Denver job searching in my venture to come back out west.
As when I went to a CS RR office in Denver everyone was talking about where they would all end up over the merger with the BN. Anyway
after hearing all the scuttlebutt I heard waiting around the office I cancelled my interview as knew it was not going to be good time for hiring out with
them. So I went on down to New Mexico and interviewed this was in early January 1981. Put my resume in and waited and waited and waited.
Surprisingly in Mar 1981 the Santa Fe in El Paso called me and wanted me to come out for the interview. They hired me on the spot and I
worked for them for 3 weeks during my vacation from Soo Line. I resigned from the Soo and got a very nice letter from the Supt at Shoreham Yard
advising me I had a lifetime job with the Soo Line Railroad should I ever decide to return. I hired out with the Soo Oct 15 1969 after serving 4 years
in the US Navy aboard the USS Ranger. Hired out as a telegrapher at Shoreham Yard however the Soo Line had got a request from another employee with
the company for that position so I went over to the Soo Line Storehouse hired out as Clerk to the General Storekeeper his name was Bob Jakowski
and when I interviewed me he ask if I could start right now and sure anyway it was about 1130am so he told me to go ahead and take a long lunch
break and be back at the storehouse at 1:oo pm. That was my first day with the railroad.

It was Jan of 1981 I was driving down to New Mexico that night coming thru the mountains of southern Colorado I seen the coal train that passed
me that night and considering my speed of about 70 the train was running perhaps about 80 or more. It surprised me to see them running that
fast and it was not until 1991 during the new Santa Fe SOC opened up in Albuquerque for the dispatchers that I heard another dispatcher talking
about this run away that I actually seen it in person years ago. Well more to come.
To be Continued