Talk:Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad

Rock Island, Illinois
Since the article didn't explain where Rock Island was, I worked a reference into the lead. That the first Chicago and Rock Island train went from Chicago to Rock Island seemed like a safe assumption, but could someone please check that? Nareek 13:44, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

This is an excerpt from an article on Abbey Station in Rock Island, IL. It disputes the December 31st Date.

"The Rock Island entered its third and final bankruptcy in 1975. On May 31, 1978, the last scheduled passenger train left the Rock Island depot. Freight service continued for a while, but in early 1980, the bankruptcy court determined that the Rock Island could not be successfully reorganized and ordered the liquidation of the railroad, the largest such liquidation in U.S. history."

Liquidation
I just added the wikilink to Liquidation, and the call for a citation. I have read someplace that the Rock's liquidation was the largest in US corporate history, to the present. But I can't seem to find anything reliable. Thoughts? Gws57 21:54, 11 January 2007 (UTC)


 * It was indeed the largest railroad liquidation; my dad was one of two final employees in Dallas. Other US companies like Enron or Worldcom have been bigger busts.

When it occurred, it was the largest liquidation of any company in history. Since then there have been larger liquidated companies, but still none have been a more successful liquidation than the Rock Island, which paid off their entire debt, with interest, and survived to purchase several manufacturing companies like Hoover Appliances. I have a lot of old newspaper articles referencing everything that happened. Perhaps I should photocopy them and place them online, as long as I don't get into trouble for reproducing the articles. But until newspapers transfer their stored articles from microfilm to the web, I would hope they wouldn't complain. 63.3.5.4 (talk) 21:41, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Rock Island logo
The page is incorrect regarding the older RI logo. The version shown as being in use from 1852-1974 was actually in use from about 1906-1974. Prior to that the words "Rock Island Route" or "Rock Island System" was within the herald. How far back the "beaver skin" herald was in use is unknown, but documents and memorabilia from the 1870's and early 1880's show a stylized "RI" as a company trademark. 63.3.5.4 (talk) 21:54, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Rock Island Bankruptcy
This needs a clafification as to when Judge McGarr ordered the Rock Island's liqudation. The article states: "On January 24, 1980, Judge McGarr was selected to hear the Rock Island bankruptcy case and ruled that the Rock Island could not be successfully reorganized and ordered it to be liquidated and sold" McGarr did not rule on the case the day he was selected to hear the case. This needs clarification.

SSLVguy (talk) 21:56, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Loaded with railfan jargon
Entire article needs to be reviewed and edited to eliminate railfan jargon and translate it into plain English — Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.228.162.7 (talk) 02:08, 30 June 2011 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed
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Recent move and name change
I think we need to do much better than a random historical society encyclopedia article for moving this article to Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway. A Chicago Tribune article from 1980 uses "Railroad", not Railway. If we can dig up the liquidation proceedings they should contain the final name. There's also the question of what secondary sources use (beyond just "the Rock Island"). Mackensen (talk) 20:45, 1 January 2017 (UTC)

Requested move 1 January 2017

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: page moved. (non-admin closure) --  Dane  talk  00:17, 9 January 2017 (UTC)

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway → Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad – Revert a move which was asked for as uncontroversial and then queried. Anthony Appleyard (talk) 22:34, 1 January 2017 (UTC)


 * Oppose in view of the source added to the article indicating the 1880 name change of Railroad to Railway. Neutral in light of conflicting sources and uses. Dicklyon (talk) 04:26, 2 January 2017 (UTC)
 *  Oppose Support per n-grams below per Dicklyon. Nonetheless, it's a mighty good road. Randy Kryn 15:50, 2 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Support given the contrary usage in a 1980 article on the final liquidation: . See also the text of Railway Labor Executives' Assn. v. Gibbons, which uses "Railroad" and not "Railway", the text of Matter of Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific R. Co., 90 B.R. 329 (same). A Railway World article from 1907 contradicts the historical association article concerning the 1880 rename. Mackensen (talk) 18:58, 2 January 2017 (UTC)
 * I can't get an n-gram of this, my ngram connection went missing. Can anyone get one from, say 1890 until, just to pick a number out of the air, 2008, to see how the two names line up without using the comma. Thanks. Should we notify interested wikiprojects, probably. Randy Kryn 19:02, 2 January 2017 (UTC)
 * n-grams work up to n = 5. this one shows a steady shift from Railway to Railroad over the century or so, which would seem to support the proposal.  Perhaps we should reconsider.  Dicklyon (talk) 19:05, 2 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Sounds good. Since this is open someone really should put a youtube link to the song in External links, I'll give it a go. Randy Kryn 19:14, 2 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Can't do it as it would bias this RM, because a good one is by Lonnie Donegan, who says either 'Railway' or 'Railroad' in his long intro. Randy Kryn 19:20, 2 January 2017 (UTC)
 * I don't doubt that because of reorganizations it's been called both over its history, but I think it's clear it finished up as "Railroad" and not "Railway". Mackensen (talk) 19:21, 2 January 2017 (UTC)


 * Support A quick scan of the sources supports the term Railroad.--TonyTheTiger (T / C / WP:FOUR / WP:CHICAGO / WP:WAWARD) 17:59, 4 January 2017 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

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Song
Is the eponymous song really a "spiritual"? Although attributed to working-class black Americans it would seem more to be in the category of a folk song. 72.105.79.232 (talk) 23:16, 9 November 2019 (UTC)

Song 2
"The song "Rock Island Line", a spiritual from the late 1920s first recorded in 1934, was inspired by the railway." - the song "Wabash Cannonball" was also inspired by the (scenery which the) railway (crossed)...probably not the only two songs? Peterachim64 (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 22:56, 26 January 2022 (UTC)