Nostalgia & History > Switcher Saturday: An ICG Trio Takes a Break

Illinois Central 1304, still in late-period IC paint, with an ICG sister and a cabless booster (two "cows" and a "calf"?), take a break from switching duties at ICG's 'B' Yard (also sometimes known as Valley Yard or Valley Junction Yard) in East St. Louis, Illinois on July 9, 1984.  The 1304,  built as an SW9 in 1951, was rebuilt  by IC or ICG as an "SW1300" ("SW13" to some) in 1972, the year of the IC - GM&O merger.  It was sold to Paducah & Louisville in 1986, becoming PAL 1304. It later went to work for a phosphate industry. Sorry, no numbers or histories on the other "cow", nor the booster "calf".

This yard is situated south of and parallel to Alton & Southern's big Gateway hump yard, and also Cotton Belt's East St. Louis yard. The east throat of this yard flowed directly into ICG's ex-IC St. Louis line, running southeastward to a connection with the north-south mainline at Du Quoin, Illinois.

In the day, it was easy to drive right up to these servicing tracks, located right next to a then-public roadway, and snap off a few images. As long as you stayed on the road, nobody gave you any grief. For IC fans, it thus was a favored location for freight unit roster shots. Today, such access is no longer possible. This yard was flat-switched during my St. Louis years, but once had a small hump dating back to 1915,  shared with 'A' Yard, just to the east.  The two yards basically operated as one at the time of this image, and always handled a healthy amount of traffic.  Today, the yard is a KCS facility, although, I'm told, somewhat reduced in size. Thanks for taking a look.

MC
Muskegon, Michigan

 

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Thanks for noticing about the bearings on those three; I missed that. Probably of no operational consequence, but interesting nonetheless.
And thanks for the photo -- that unit looks sharp in the Paducah & Louisville paint, a really nice scheme in my book.

MC

ironmtn Wrote:

> Sorry, no numbers or histories on the other "cow",
> nor the booster "calf".

The number on the booster is just below the hood-mounted handrail on the side of the hood near the front corner, and the number of the distant SW13 is on the front of the cab above the windshield.  I can't quite make them out in the posted image, but the original photo may have enough resolution to discern them.  ICG had three of these SW13B's, two made from existing TR2 calves and one from a decapitated SW7.