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Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad Company

American railway
Also known as: Rock Island Railroad, The Rock
Written and fact-checked byThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
Table of Contents
byname:
Rock Island Railroad, or The Rock
Date:
1847 - 1980

Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad Company, U.S. railroad company founded in 1847 as the Rock Island and La Salle Railroad Company to build a line from Rock Island to La Salle, Ill. By 1866 its lines extended from Chicago to Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Management in the late 19th century was extremely conservative, but new interests took over in 1901. By 1907 the line attained its peak length of 14,270 miles (22,975 kilometres) in 13 states, but this rapid expansion impaired its credit and it was reorganized in 1917 and again in 1947.

In the 1960s the Rock Island again began to decline. Merger discussions with other railroads failed, and it began bankruptcy proceedings in March 1975. Federal loan guarantees kept it running, but in January 1980 a federal judge ordered the railroad liquidated on the grounds that there was no way of reorganizing it for profitable operation. Its properties were sold off piecemeal in the early 1980s.