The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad

The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.-Incorporation:...

 Rockets were lightweight, streamlined Diesel-electric passenger trains built by the Budd Company

Budd Company

The Budd Company is a metal fabricator and major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and was formerly a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars during the 20th century....

. These six trains were the first streamlined equipment purchased by the Rock Island, as well as being its first Diesel powered passenger trains. Four of the trains consisted of 3 cars each, the other two each had 4 cars.

The stainless steel

Stainless steel

In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....

 trains were each powered by an Electro-Motive Corporation model TA locomotive

Locomotive

A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...

. Unlike many other early streamline trains, the locomotives were not permanently attached to the trains.

The trains were partially articulated, however the observation car

Observation car

An observation car/carriage/coach is a type of railroad passenger car, generally operated in a passenger train as the last carriage, with windows on the rear of the car for passengers' viewing pleasure...

s were not articulated with the rest of the trainsets.

The six trains as originally assigned were:

• The Peoria Rocket, Chicago, Illinois to Peoria, Illinois
  Peoria, Illinois
  Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
  
  
  • Articulated 3 car set:
    • 32 seat Baggage-dinette-coach #400 Joliet
    • 60 seat coach #306 Ottawa
    • 76 seat coach #300 La Salle
  • 32 seat, 1 drawing room, parlor, buffet, observation car #450 Peoria

• The Des Moines Rocket, Chicago, Illinois to Des Moines, Iowa
  Des Moines, Iowa
  Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
  
  
  • Articulated 3 car set:
    • 32 seat Baggage-dinette-coach #401 Norman Judd
    • 60 seat coach #307 Grenville Dodge
    • 76 seat coach #301 Henry Farnum
  • 32 seat, 1 drawing room, parlor, buffet, observation car #451 L M Allen

• The Texas Rocket, Fort Worth, Texas
  Fort Worth, Texas
  Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
  
   to Houston, Texas
  Houston, Texas
  Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
  
  
  • Articulated 2 car set:
    • 32 seat Baggage-dinette-coach #402 Dream Lake
    • 76 seat coach #302 Mesa Verde
  • 28 seat coach, lounge, observation car #452 Centennial

• The Rocky Mountain Rocket, Kansas City, Missouri
  Kansas City, Missouri
  Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
  
   to Denver, Colorado
  Denver, Colorado
  The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
  
  
  • Articulated 2 car set:
    • 32 seat Baggage-dinette-coach #403 Bear Lake
    • 76 seat coach #303 Mount Evans
  • 28 seat coach, lounge, observation car #453 Pikes Peak

• The Kansas City Rocket, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  Minneapolis, Minnesota
  Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
  
   to Kansas City, Missouri
  Kansas City, Missouri
  Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
  
  (2 trainsets)
  • Articulated 2 car set:
    • 18 seat Baggage-dinette-coach #404 Arrow Head
    • 76 seat coach #304 Chippewa
  • 28 seat coach, lounge, observation car #454 Minnesota
  • Articulated 2 car set:
    • 18 seat Baggage-dinette-coach #405 Mesabi
    • 76 seat coach #305 Ioway
  • 28 seat coach, lounge, observation car #455 Missouri