The upper level of my two-level layout is all narrow gauge, depicting a portion of the former Denver & Rio Grande Western’s Fourth Division line in southwestern Colorado and northern New Mexico.
St. Louis - East
One normally thinks of Chicago as the great interchange point between eastern and western railroads, and consequently, a great place to watch trains. St Louis is also a great interchange point, but split by the Mississippi River. In the 1970s, most of the major eastern roads had terminals on the “east side” in the East St Louis Illinois area: Penn Central (both New York Central and Pennsylvania), Gulf Mobile and Ohio, Illinois Central, Louisville & Nashville, Baltimore & Ohio, Chicago & Northwestern, and Southern. The Terminal Railroad Association of St Louis (TRRA) and the Alton & Southern (A&S) were the primary interchange roads in the area, and two major roads owned tracks on both sides of the river: Norfolk and Western (ex-Wabash) and the Missouri Pacific.
The St Louis area’s two large classification hump yards are on the east side: Madison Yard (TRRA), and Gateway Yard (A&S). Other large yards on the east side are Valley Jct. Yard (SSW or Cotton Belt, now UP), East St Louis Yard (Illinois Central, then Gateway Western, now KCS), and Dupo Yard (MoPac, now UP).
While there are many locations on the east side for railfanning, here are just a few: Valley Junction and nearby yards; Lenox Tower at Mitchell; TRRA’s Madison Yard; and Dupo IL.
East St. Louis Area
Valley Junction (East St Louis), located near the east approach to the MacArthur Bridge over the Mississippi River, was (and still is) a very active junction in the 1980s, adjacent to yards of the Alton & Southern, Cotton Belt, Illinois Central and tracks of the Terminal Railroad and the MoPac.
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The Gateway Western (GWWR) was a short-lived descendent of the Illinois Central Gulf (GM&O) from 1990 to 1997, at which time it was purchased by the Kansas City Southern (KCS). GWWR had an agreement allowing Santa Fe freights to access the St Louis area, which added to the variety in motive power seen in the East St Louis area. Some of these photos were taken by Larry Tuttle.
TRRA’s Madison Yard
At Madison IL, across the Mississippi River from north St Louis, is the Terminal Railroad Association’s (TRRA) Madison Yard, a large hump yard. The locomotive facility, located just off Broadway, featured TRRA switchers and road units from Burlington Northern and CSX during our visit in 1993.
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Lenox Tower (Mitchell IL)
Today, Lenox Tower at Mitchell, Illinois, about 10 miles northeast of St Louis, is the northern terminus of the Alton & Southern RR, and where separate lines of Kansas City Southern, Union Pacific, and Norfolk Southern converge for their final miles into St Louis. In the late 1970s, however, the railroad names were different: Illinois Central Gulf, Penn Central, Missouri Pacific, Norfolk and Western. The tower was busy then, with numerous freights and Amtrak, but the track and grounds looked worn and in need of maintenance. While other interlocking towers in the St Louis area closed, this tower (later under UP control) remained as the last manned tower, until it too closed in 2018.
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Dupo, IL
Dupo, Illinois, about 6 miles southeast of downtown St Louis, was the site of a large MoPac yard on the Chester Sub. The St Louis Southwestern (SSW or Cotton Belt), a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific, had trackage rights on the Chester Sub, so many SP freights passed this yard on their way to either SSW’s Valley Junction Yard or A&S’s Gateway Yard. Today this is a Union Pacific yard.
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By 2018, the list of railroads on the “east side” of St Louis dropped considerably, to Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, Kansas City Southern, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Canadian National and CSX – all of the US’s seven Class 1 railroads except for Canadian Pacific. Nonetheless, the TRRA and A&S still play important roles in moving rail traffic through the St Louis area.