Wreck of the Rock Island

Oh, the Rock Island Line is a

mighty good road,

If you want to ride it, got to ride it

like you find it,

Buy your ticket at the station on the

Rock Island Line.

Popularized in a folk song made famous by Leadbelly, the once mighty Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific has sold fewer tickets in recent years. In 1974 it lost $23 million, largely as the result of higher payrolls and a 200% increase in fuel costs. It has tried to merge with the prosperous Union Pacific and has borrowed from its own employees. With much justice, it has lambasted the U.S.

Railway Association (a federal agency set up to restructure rail service in the Midwest and Northeast) for "intentional neglect" of its financial woes.

Last week, three days after the USRA had snubbed its plea for a $30 million emergency loan, the debt-ridden Rock Island Line became the first major railroad outside the Northeast since World War II to file for reorganization under the Federal Bankruptcy Act. Rescue operations began almost immediately. To avoid stranding 13,000 commuters, Chicago's Regional Transportation Authority promised to take over service in and out of the city. Meanwhile, the Interstate Commerce Commission summoned representatives from 60 railroads to Washington and indicated that it will dismember the 7,500-mile road. The ice will parcel out some segments to other Western lines, and abandon the remainder of the Rock Island.

Worst Loss. As a result, several roads operating between Chicago, the Rockies and Texas clearly stand to gain from the bankruptcy. But there will be losers, too, including hundreds of grain shippers and manufacturers who have been served exclusively by the Rock Island.

The wreck of the Rock Island is just the latest sign of growing trouble on the U.S. rails and the failure of the Government to produce a rational rail policy for the nation. An ICC staff estimate predicts that the industry's first-quarter loss will be "worse than has ever before occurred, even during the Great Depression of the 1930s." No fewer than eight Northeast roads are in bankruptcy. And the Department of Transportation's new Secretary, William Coleman Jr., cautions: "It would be foolish simply to subsidize the rails. I think 20% of the nation's rail trackage ought to be abandoned."

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