Western Railroad Discussion > An Evening in St. Louis

On July, 10, 2014, I drove through the first leg of a roadtrip to Ohio, and got to spend some time in St. Louis overnight and came away with the following shots.

Photo 1: UP 4421 pulls west off of the MacArthur Bridge into the good ole state of Missouri from my home state of Illinois with a fairly sizeable manifest.

Photo 2: Just before a Cardinals-Pirates game (Pitt. won 9-1, btw!), a St. Louis MetroLink lightrail train rolls west by Busch Stadium on its way towards the Amtrak station. This is a Red Line train heading west towards the Airport. Regardless of my distaste of the Cards, there's absolutely no mistaking that skyline.

Photo 3: The sun started to set, and I was presented with some gorgeous sunlight on the MacArthur Bridge. I sure would've liked to have had a westbound at this point, but I'll take what I can get. This was an eastbound transfer that had been working the ex-MP (right?) yard below with SD60M's #2500, #2300, and GP60 #1945. The SD60M's started out on the UP, though the Geep was originally the SSW #9643.

Enjoy,
Jeff Carlson

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Once the sun had gone down, I decided it would be a good time to run over to Union Station and take a few night shots.

Photo 4: With the train shed, private cars and the newly-arrived SW1, I found this scene looking (if you squint your eyes) much like days gone by. The Puget Sound was originally a GN dome that was rebuilt with fluted sides, while the SW1 started life in 1950 as the PRR 9422. It might not be accurate for the unit, but if this is going to be a display down there, it would be SWEET to see it show up in TRRA grey.

Photo 5: Just a shot of the trainshed at Union Station. The blue sky sure put up a nice contrast against the red steelwork overhead. For those of you who haven't been to the station, it has been rebuilt into a fairly nice hotel and mall.

Photo 6: One parting shot I took here was of the Louisville & Nashville's "Royal Street" observation car. According to its website ( http://americantraintrips.com/royal-street/ ), the car "was of one eight 5 double bedroom-buffet-lounge observation Lounge Lunchordered in 1946, built by Pullman-Standard, and completed in February and March of 1950. The... ROYAL STREET... (was) assigned to service on the jointly-operated New York – Washington – Atlanta – New Orleans “Crescent.”

Following all of this, I had to get my Imo's fix, so I ran out west a few miles and treated myself to a St. Louis staple!

Thanks for looking!
- Jeff Carlson



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/14 15:53 by bnsfsd70.

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So nice to see trains back at Union Station. Cool shots Jeffeff!

Pump



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/14 16:01 by UPTRAIN.

#2 is a killer shot for me! It combines 2 of my great passions; railroading & baseball in one shot. And then I have a personal history with the Gateway Arch. I remember as a grade school kid in 1965 seeing the arch about 75% completed while visiting relatives in Cahokia on the Illinois side. Good stuff!

Lance

UPTRAIN Wrote:
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> So nice to see trains back at Union Station.

Agreed. Really a shame that Amtrak can't use it. I read somewhere that the station's owner is now looking to start running excursions. That sure would be cool to see, though I highly doubt anything will come of it.

> Cool shots Jeffeff!
>
> Pump

Thanks man!

- Jeff

Posted from iPhone

santafe199 Wrote:
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> #2 is a killer shot for me! It combines 2 of my
> great passions; railroading & baseball in one
> shot.

Yeah, say what you will about the Cardinals, but there's no mistaking that skyline, and Busch stadium is a big part of it.

And then I have a personal history with the
> Gateway Arch. I remember as a grade school kid in
> 1965 seeing the arch about 75% completed while
> visiting relatives in Cahokia on the Illinois
> side. Good stuff!
>
> Lance

Man, i've seen in-progress views of the Arch, and it's always pretty amazing to see.

Thanks for looking and I'm glad you enjoyed them,

- Jeff

Posted from iPhone

foto #2 shows some traction action! wag216

The second to last shot is really neat. Too ad those automobiles are there. I guess you could Photoshop them out. The hotel and mall have been in the train shed for decades.

Marty Bernard

SUPER pics!!! Thanks for posting. Pic 5 is my favorite.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/14 05:33 by ns1000.

wag216 Wrote:
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> foto #2 shows some traction action! wag216

Yup! If I had more time, I'd love to have spent some more time shooting them, but alas, Imo's called me away. Transit shots don't always get the love that they should.


Thanks again for all of the comments everyone!

- Jeff

Neat stuff Jeff. Really cool shots and a nice complex.
Brian Stevens