Steam & Excursion > 1522 Iron Hill Symphony

Here's the last of the "1522 Trilogy."  This one is called "Revenge Of The Sith."  No, wait.  That was Star Wars.  The prequal  trilogy.  Which I guess makes six.  Ummm, never mind.  Scrap that thought.  Where's my coffee?  Ahhhhhhhh, that's better.  Anyway......

One of 1522's frequent stomping grounds during her excursion career was her old home turf between St. Louis and Newburg, Missouri.  The line incuded two notable grades.  The most famous of those was, of course, Rolla Hill.  Rolla Hill was covered a few days ago.  Rolla Hill was the ruling grade for eastbound trains.

On the westbound run from St. Louis, the ruling grade was Iron Hill.  This grade started just west of Moselle, Missouri, and reached its crest just east of the County Road TT crossing on the east side of St. Clair.  This video covers 1522 hauling trains up the hill from her first excursion over the line during the 1990 N.R.H.S. convention to her last excursion train before returning to display at the Museum of Transportation in 2002.

The video begins at Moselle as the 1990 convention special hits the bottom of the grade at Moselle.  From there, George Redmond beat the train to the top of the grade at the TT crossing.

The next pair of shots was during the 1991 break-in runs with a freight consist.  George caught the train passing on the hill, while Kurt Jensen was at the top of the grade at the TT crossing.  I was riding with Kurt and recording sound during that trip.  George arrived at TT just ahead of the train.  Kurt and I hadn't met George yet, though now that all of our footage is being assembled together it is amazing just how many times our paths crossed over the years!

The next shot is also at the TT crossing, as the Peach Blossom Special reached the top of the grade on the first leg of the train's journey from St. Louis to Atlanta for that year's N.R.H.S. convention.

From there, we head into the heart of the grade in April, 2001, as 1522 was making another shake-down run on a freight consist.  Both Tom Dunn and then George Redmond caught the train on the heavy part of the grade, and George again made it to the TT crossing ahead of the train.  On that day, I was recording sound atop a cut on the grade.  I had volunteered at the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern the day before, and driven up the previous evening.  Unable to find any motel rooms off the interstate, I gave up and slept on the ground beside my car just outside of Moselle.  Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do, right?  You could hear the train coming a good ten minutes before arriving at my location as 1522 hammered up the grade.  Priceless!  And worth a lousy night's rest!

Then it's on to the 2001 N.R.H.S. covention.  Again 1522 was hauling a convention train over the Cuba Subdivision, and I had borrowed Kurt's old video camera.  I was set up primarily for a sound recording, and set the video camera on a tripod and let it run as the train passed across a field and through a tree line.  Not the best visual that was ever captured, but you can hear why I chose the location for sound!  Tom Dunn was also there, and his angle was a little more photogenic as 1522 barked up the grade.  George was even further up the hill, and the train had gained a little speed by the time it passed his location.

Then it's on to the last excursion train 1522 ever pulled.  George's camera caught the train on the grade, and you can tell the Amtrak locomotive tied to the rear of the train for H.E.P. is also adding power to the rail as the train made a good clip up the hill.

Once again, this is about as much as can be packed into a six minute video.  I'm sure I speak for more than myself when I say that 1522's re-retirement felt a little like a death in the family.  We ALWAYS enjoyed a chance to see her run!

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

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Outstanding, Mary. Thanks for posting.  Thanks to the SLSTA, BN , St Louis Chapter and all the others who made that happen.

Here's a note for all the audio collectors out there: in the very first shot in this video, you'll note a car parked in the far left hand side of the frame.  That car marks the spot where Brad Miller was recording, and the recording he made here is the second track on the CD "Sounds Of Trains, Volume 4."

I had put 2 and 2 together before, but never ran the video shot and the CD track side by side.  They are definitely the same scene, and the locations are only feet apart.

And now you know, the REST of the story.

Paul Harvey, good day!

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

I didn't mind the Amtrak unit on the hind end, but the damned thing nearly shoved me up Rolla Hill.  Unacceptable.  In retrospect, I should have made about a 10 lb reduction.  People paid good money to hear the Iron and Rolla Hill fights.  If he had just kept me at 20 on Rolla Hill everyone would have went home happy.
The last trip, my wife rode with me from Newburg to Stanton where I got down and Jeff Schmid took her downtown and then I took her home to the Museum for the last time.  Everybody was teary eyed when we tied up there.

Absolutely AWESOME !!!!