Choctaw Rocket

The Choctaw Rocket was a named passenger train operated by the Rock Island Railroad in the United States. Initially designated as train No. 51 (westbound) and train No. 52 (eastbound), it was the first diesel powered streamliner to operate out of Memphis, Tennessee and across the state of Arkansas, with an inaugural run on November 17, 1940. The Choctaw Rocket operated between Memphis, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, and Amarillo.

History

The original locomotive and car assignments for the two Choctaw Rocket sets of equipment included E6 locomotives 628 and 629, modernized heavyweight railway post office-baggage cars 702 and 703, coaches 350-Amarillo, and 351-Oklahoma City, sleepers 622-Seminole, and 623-Wewoka, and dining-parlor-observation cars 430-Memphis, and 431-Little Rock. The coaches, sleepers and observation cars were all streamlined cars ordered from Pullman Standard Manufacturing Company, specifically for use on the Choctaw Rocket.

By 1952, the Choctaw Rocket had lost its Rocket designation, Rock Island's identification for the company's premier passenger trains, reflecting the route's downgrade to secondary train status. In August 1953, the conventional locomotive-pulled trains were replaced by self-propelled Budd rail diesel cars and the trains were renamed the Choctaw Rockette.

After the discontinuance of Western Pacific's rail diesel car trains 1-2 (Salt Lake City-San Francisco) in 1960, the Rock Island's Memphis-Amarillo rail diesel car route held the distinction of being the longest Budd rail diesel car route in the United States. Declining patronage and a desire by the Rock Island to close many small town depots resulted in the discontinuance of this route, now designated as unnamed trains 23-24, with last runs occurring on August 8, 1964.

References

• Stout, Greg (1997). Route of the Rockets; Rock Island in the Streamlined Era. ISBN 0-9659040-0-8.