New member to MRRF.com


Railroad Joe

Engineer, RI #424
Greetings all!!

My name is Joe and I'm a modeler of the local railroads around where I live. I live in Joliet, IL. and the railroad I model the most of is the Rock Island. Secondary is the EJ&E. Currently, I have a collection of about 100 locomotives and about 300 freight cars. My goal is to have a building built, 40X40X16 tall and to build a layout, amongst other things in the building. My dream is to model the Rock Island from around 1965 to shutdown(1980), the 2 months the EJ&E operated over it and todays operations of CSX & the Iowa interstate. The layout will run from between New Lenox west to around Morris and model everything in between. Hopefully this will take place in 5 years or less. I have lots of good friends in the Joliet area who have expressed interest in helping build a layout of this proportion. Also, I would like to start posting pictures of my equipment for all to see. As I work swing shift for a living, I will start posting when I have time. Take care and I have enjoyed this site and it's members for quite some time now. Keep up the fantastic work all!!
 
Welcome Joe. I pass through Joliet when I go to my brothers house. He now lives in Sandwich but before his recent move he lived in Yorkville. I bypass all of the traffic of 80/94/294 by taking county roads from Beechler IL to Peotone to US 52 and back to I80. Good to have you aboard.
 
Hi Joe,

Glad you joined us! 40x40, eh? That's a nice chunk of real estate! I'm using a two-car garage for mine. I have plenty of land if I wanted to build, but no ca$h to finance any new construction.

Great choice of RR's. I visited a guy in Ohio who models The Rock, I managed to snag a photo of some geeps on his layout:
rock_island_geeps.jpg


Not the best shot I admit, but it shows the broad range of paint you would find on CRI&P locos during the final years.
 
Hi Joe , looks like you have your work cut out for you. I worked swing shift for 15 years it really plays tricks on your sleeping habits. Good luck and welcome to the forum !!!!
 
Oh my, and I thought my plans were big, 40'x40'! Hummm, 1965 til now, thats a BIG time period!

I love that C-415 that you have for your avatar! If you got pics, please post!
 
Thanks to all who have replied and gave me a warm welcome. I do appreciate it very much. As CSX road slug's pic shows, the Rock Island was a very diverse railroad. OldGettysk, like you, I have been working swing for 22 years now. A bit more about myself, I'm 43 years old, 2 children(17 y/o daughter & 13 y/o son) Yes, my son is into model & real railroads and we hang together as much as time will let us(yes, I'm separated & in the process of divorce) In the next few days, when I get off from night shift, I'll post some pics of my locomotives. As for my avatar, that is C-415 #424, an Overland Models brass locomotive. In real life, it was the 1st Rock Island locomotive I ever rode on. Brian Marsh was very accomodating to add that number to the series when they produced it a couple of years ago. Once again, Thanks for the warm welcome!!
 
Welcome RR Joe,

I too am a ROCK fan, and have some Rock locos in H.O. scale.

My Rock roster is:

3 Athearn GP38-2's, # 4310, 4329, 4350.
1 Athearn SW1500 #947
1 Athearn custom painted GP40, # in the 300 series.
1 Atlas GP7, Custom painted, #4490

Nice to have another Rock fan on board!!!!
 
Thanks again for the warm welcome! Always nice to know there are other Rock Island fans out there. I always knew there were. It's too bad some of our nationwide publications never seem to publish anything about the Rock Island. Thats ok now as we have our own magazine dedicated to modeling the Rock Island. As for my roster there Rock4329, it would take me all night to try and type it all. I will say this though, my most favorite locomotive is Alco C-415 #424(OMI Brass) which is what my avatar is. Mine is #7 of 15 produced. In the coming few days when I have time, I'll post some more pics. Thanks again!!
 



Back
Top