| CRI&P E8 644 at the Rocket House, 47th Street, Chicago, Illinois, September 1979, photo by Chuck Zeiler. By the date of this photo, the Rock Island was all but shut down, one of the unions had walked out on strike for back wages, the suburban service had been taken over by the RTA, the E units were replaced by F40PH's, and the freight service was being operated by the Kansas City Terminal Railway, as directed by the ICC. There is a pipe attached to the steam line on this locomotive, one might speculate that one of the final duties of 644 was as a steam generator at the Rocket House, still used by the RTA to service the new F40PH's. |