I remember seeing several charter operations in the mid-1970's on the Rock Island operated by Butterworth Tours. I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge of these. Were they strictly cars added to the Quad Cities Rocket and the Peoria Rocket or did they ever run stand alone trips? What cars were used by Butterworth?

Any photos and car dispostions would be greatly appreciated.

I was looking at photos the other day on the web and found this:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1361121
I also saw a photo in one of the issues of the magazine Classic Trains that had a photo of this car I believe painted for Butterworth Tours on the tail end of one of the Rockets.

I think the only car used by the elder Ben Butterworth on these charters was the Big Ben, which was one of the C&O domes that never operated on the C&O and went to the DRGW. It was the 1875, and you can get info and plenty of pictures on this site:

http://www.trainweb.org/web_lurker/CO/

(By the way, this site - WebLurker's Dome Main - was one of the first and best RR sites on the web.)

As far as I know on the RI they only operated as part of one of the Rocket trains. After the demise of the RI I think they tried to operate briefly some standalone trains over remainders of the RI.

As for where it is today: several years ago it was at ITAC, but I have heard that recently the cars owned by the younger Ben Butterworth have moved to a site near Indianapolis.

Chris.

The way I recall it is that Butterworth operated parlor car service under contract to the Rock Island on the Quad Cities Rocket. The car used was a corrugated stainless steel streamlined end observation/dome car that had a vestibule end added onto the rear so that the car could be run in reverse one way. This was a pretty interesting arrangement and somebody probably has some additional information.

Les

The 1976 Railway Passenger Car Annual listed 14 cars in use by Butterworth at the time, including (I presume this instigates your query) ex-EL diner 769 (formerly Strates), nee-DL&W 469, Budd 1949. The book has photos of no fewer than 11 of these cars, including 769, which was said to have been refurbished by Amtrak for its State House train but not used due to mechanical problems.

I'm off to the Md. Rail Heritage Library momentarily; I know we have more info/data on hand over there. Stay tuned.

Yes, you are right. There were some cars in the tiny Rock Island, Illinois coach yard. And at the "Rocket House" in Chicago. They did operate Football trains to Iowa City too. I rode the "Rockets" Often. I lived and worked in Clinton, Iowa at the time. Untill the service got so bad, I couldn't stand it! Towards the end it was coach only. Ran hours late, With snack bar, and food kept around the woman's toilet bowl. It was in packages, but gee whiz! It got so bad, the crew would come into Chicago sometimes alone! People on this list that think the private railroads were so wonderful. Should have had to ride the Penn-Central and the Rock Island. I see all these cars clean and fixed up in museums today. I remember what they looked like in their last days of service! But with trillions spent on airports, highways and waterways and taxes on train tickets. What could you expect from the railroads, many of which oil companys and car companys had bought into?

The fare one way was $11. it included breakfast in the diner (simple food by then) or dinner. Not the same food served in the Track One restaurant owned and operated by Rock Island dining car department at La Salle Street Station. The squared off end was added by DRG&W for the Royal Gorge service. The car today is kept indoors, and I see it often.

Did it say where these cars were used? I think they were used on dinner trains and other specials (very briefly) over RI or ex-RI lines in Iowa. I don't think they (except for the Big Ben dome) were used on the Rocket trains into Chicago, and if they were I have never seen any pictures of that.

Chris.

Chris.

Les[/quote]
The fare one way was $11. it included breakfast in the diner (simple food by then) or dinner. Not the same food served in the Track One restaurant owned and operated by Rock Island dining car department at La Salle Street Station. The squared off end was added by DRG&W for the Royal Gorge service. The car today is kept indoors, and I see it often.[/quote]

Where is this car on display? I don't think the Big Ben is the same car on display in the museum in Florida, and the last I heard it was part of the back lot at ITAC. Has it since been put on display somewhere? (Note that there has been confusion on which car was which after 40 years of sales and rebuilds.)

Chris.

All three of the Chessie Dome Observation cars survive:

Silver Holly - Daytona Beach, FL - W.R. Root Collection with MILW Skytop Obs
Linoma - the Back 40 at ITAC, now Gateway Rail Services in Madison, IL
Big Ben - Field of Dreams, Iowa

Butterworth Tours used the Big Ben, Reveller (former PRR 1938 Broadway Car - RR's Museum in Altoona, PA), assorted IC 11 Double Bedroom "B" series cars, DLW Budd diner and others for the Iowa City football trains and other Specials. The Big Ben and Reveller were the mainstays on the Chicago-Quad Cities trains until the service ended.

Big Ben, the former C&O/D&RGW dome-observation was the car which was predominately used on the Rock Island train. On occasion, Reveler, the former PRR car, was used. Bonnie B, a former IC 11 bedroom car, would pinch hit once in a while. After the Rock Island lost a full diner to mechanical issues (cracked center sill?), the former E-L diner #769, was used on the Rock Island train.

Bill's son, Ben, is still heavily involved with private cars today. Bill is involved with former CZ 6-5 sleeper, Silver Quail.

I'm attaching a shot of the Big Ben on Rock Island #5 at New Lenox, IL, on August 11, 1974 (bottom) and another shot of Reveler (top) on Rock Island #6 at LaSalle Street Station in Chicago on April 20, 1975. I took both photos. The Reveler shot was taken after I made an overnight trip to Rock Island on the car.

Don C.

Great photos, Don! Got any more to share?
The story goes that all Rock Island diners eventually failed structurally, thus the "Track One" restaurant idea. The Lackawanna diner was used to cover meal service on the Quad Cities trains.
The Amtrak Certified Silver Quail is a testament to Bill's appreciation for an all-bedroom car.
The Bonnie B lives on as Charter Wire's St. James Place - having converted into a business car.

THIS POST WILL BE UPDATED AS I FIND BRAIN CELLS TO SPARE:

Dang you guys, tapping into (and taking advantage of) my insatiable curiosity about such mysterious railfan operations.......

Here's the list from Railway Passenger Car Annual 1976, apparently at the zenith of the Butterworth operation; I can't find any later rosters of Butterworth equipment (plus sign indicates same name used):

Baton Rouge: 11DBR ex-IC 3500+, built Pullman-Standard 1953
Benton: 11DBR ex-IC 3502+ P-S 8-1953 Lot 6913, plan 4168A. sold to William Langhoff Glen Ellen, IL 1970. IC designation PS-38; to Butterworth.
Bonnie B: 11DBR ex-IC 3501+ P-S 1953, originally named Belleville. Lot 6913, plan 4168A. Sold to Butterworth Tours 1971. IC designation PS-35
Big Ben: Dome-Obs-Lounge ex-D&RGW Dome Obs 42-seat coach 1949, ex-C&O dome-obs 20-seat coach 1876, Budd 1948 for C&O Chessie. Originally built by Budd as Chesapeake and Ohio's 1876 [Two other sources list this as 1875] in 1948. The car was sold to the Denver & Rio Grande Western a year later, where it was converted to be a mid-train dome car, DRGW 1248. This basically involved butchering up the rounded end to have a door and diaphram that could connect to following cars. After that, it was regularly assigned to the DRGW's Royal Gorge passenger trains (trains 1 & 2). It was sold to Butterworth Tours' owner Bill Butterworth in 1970
Clifton: 10-6 ex-IC 3517+,ex-C&O 2648 City of Marion, P-S 1950
Central City: 10-6 ex-IC 3527+, ex-NKP 201 City of St. Louis, P-S 1950
Eden Valley: 6DBR-3DR ex-Greunlinger Tours "Elizabeth Anne", ex-NYC 10-6 Eden Valley, Budd 1949
The Reveler: 2-1-1 Obs Lounge (round end), ex-PRR 7153 Samuel Vaughn Merrick, ex-8113+, ex-Wake Island, ex-Jacks Narrows, P-S 1938 for PRR Spirit of St. Louis
Western View: 12-4 ex-Wabash, ACF 1950 On 1976 roster but overhaul had not begun at this point
Western Lake: 12-4 ex-Wabash, ACF 1950
769-Phoebe: Diner, ex-Strates,ex-EL 769, ex-DL&W 469, Budd 1949 for Phoebe Snow
Gilman: 4-4-2 ex-IC+, ex-NYC 10022 Eads Bridge, ex-Imperial Highlands, P-S 1938 for 20th-Century Ltd.; on roster but under overhaul and repaint 1975
2201: Dome 46-seat coach, ex-IC 2201, ex-MP 591, ex-891, Budd 1948
2210: Dome 52-seat coach, ex-IC 2210, ex-MP 594, ex-894, P-S 1952

A couple of these cars survived in Butterworth hands until 1989, and were used on The Quad City Rocket Dinner Train, a short-lived venture by Butterworth Tours that ran between Rock Island, IL, and Wilton, IA, during the spring and summer of 1989. The initial story about the project, appearing in the Quad City Times on 14-Dec-1988, reported that the train, conceived by Bill and Todd Butterworth, would be the Blackhawk Limited. The intention was to run a seven car train making year-round trips out of the restored Rock Island depot, both west to Wilton, IA, and east to Atkinson, IL. This train would be moved down from Minnetonka, Minnesota, having been operated up there for several years as the Minnetonka (later Minnesota) Zephyr Dinner Train.

With regards to the Minnesota Zephyr venture, which ceased operation at the end of 2008 after a reported 20 years in operation, I have not been able to find a definitive roster yet for their equipment. What I did find included former SP 3/4-length dome 3604 (never part of the original Butterworth collection), and an ex-NKP 52-seat coach, Lake Wind, built by P-S and converted to a table car. Suffice it to say that it appears that the Chicoland Butterworth cars did NOT get used by the Minnesota Zephyr operation.

This website:
http://www.iaisrailfans.org/passenger/index.shtml
lists the Big Ben as working The Quad Cities dinner train, along with the following:
# City of Davenport - A Santa Fe coach built in 1937, converted to tables for dining. No idea on current whereabouts
# City of Rock Island - A 1950 diner built for the Santa Fe Super Chief. No idea on current whereabouts
# City of Moline - A 1948 C&O coach, converted to be the party and lounge car, where patrons could have appetizers only instead of a full meal.
# City of Wilton - A former crew dormitory and baggage car built for the Milwaukee Road in 1946. The car was always on the east end of the train, and housed the train's generator and the prep kitchen.

KNOWN Dispositions:
"The Reveler": at Railroaders Memorial Museum, Altoona, Pa. as Jacks Narrows.
Big Ben: supposedly donated to the C&O Historical Society 1995
Baton Rouge: Now(?) KCS executive train 1810 San Luis Potosi, rebuilt to 5-SR2
Bonnie B: Now Amtrak 800025 St. James Place, rebuilt to business configuration
Clifton: Now Amtrak 800056 El Raramuri
DL&W 469: Last used in Tennessean diner train, offered for sale at Ozark Mountain Railcar 2009 for $140K; reported as SOLD July 2010........... Tim, ya wanna talk yet?

Photo links:
http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=191934
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1361121
http://www.iaisrailfans.org/gallery/QCRocket?page=1
http://rrpicturearchives.net/rspicture.aspx?id=396334

[quote="MRLX1020"]Great photos, Don! Got any more to share?
[/quote]

How about these?

First shot - Rock Island #5 from Roosevelt Road in Chicago backing into LaSalle Street Station. Reveler on the rear and the DL&W as the working diner.

Second shot - Rock Island #6 east of Joliet, at Pilcher Park, with Big Ben and the former DL&W diner in Amtrak paint.

A couple more of mine to come...

Don C.

[quote="Don C."][quote="MRLX1020"]Great photos, Don! Got any more to share?
[/quote]

How about these?

First shot - Rock Island #6 east of Joliet, at Pilcher Park, with Big Ben and the former DL&W diner in Amtrak paint.

Second shot - Rock Island #5 from Roosevelt Road in Chicago backing into LaSalle Street Station. Reveler on the rear and the DL&W as the working diner.

A couple more of mine to come...

Don C.[/quote]


Two more......

Rock Island #5 departing from Roosevelt Road with Reveler. 3-21-75

Rock Island #5 departing from Roosevelt Road with the DL&W diner. 3-21-75.

The backing in shot was also taken on 3-21-75.

The snow shot of #6 was taken on 12-22-74.

Don C.