Eastern Railroad Discussion > Railfanning the St. Louis area

Hey guys,
I'll be in the St. Louis area this coming weekend and am looking at doing some railfanning within 2-3 hours of the city. Was wanting to know some ideas of where some good places would be. I'm looking pretty much for anything other than CSX. I work for CSX, so I'm looking to change the scenery a little bit.

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Tim Rich
S. Ogden, UT

When I've been to St. Louis recently I've usually spent a lot of time around Madison/Granite City, Illinois shooting TRRA and whatever else shows up there, which includes NS, KCS, UP, BNSF, and Amtrak. A major local street passes over the north throat of Madison Yard and north of there is an area heavy with junctions and industrial activity, much of it associated with US Steel and other nearby industries. US Steel has been talking about mothballing the Granite City works but the latest report is that they're going to keep one furnace operating. This is not an area I'd spend much time in at night, but it looks OK in the daytime and certainly isn't as rough as notorious East Saint Louis.

On the north side of town, just north of I-270, is Mitchell Tower, where the A&S and KCS/UP/NS lines junction. It's still an active tower, though I don't know for how long. Nearby is Pontoon Beach, where I often stay in motels when foaming St Louis because of its proximity to Madison and relatively low rates.

You'll probably hear references to Valley Junction. That's to the south, at the east end of the TRRA's MacArthur Bridge and on the southwestern edge of East St Louis (and southeast of Sauget). Others may be fond of this spot but I find it unremarkable. Mostly UP coal trains and hard to really see anything that shows the lay of the land. It's near a bunch of chemical plants the TRRA serves and north of Dupo Yard.

On the Missouri side, the busiest area is just west of the MacArthur Bridge and near the Amtrak station, where several city streets pass over various TRRA lines in a valley just south of Busch Stadium. It looks like there used to be a lot more track here, with some of the space now used for surface parking lots that support the ballpark, but there's still plenty of action. The action here is mostly UP but you'll see some BNSF action and I once saw an Alton & Southern transfer here and of course there's Amtrak, too. Along the river, the park surrounding the Gateway Arch also has a secondary TRRA line through it, and in the mornings it's possible to photograph trains passing the Arch -- but you may wait a while depending on traffic.

West of town, you've got the picturesque passenger station in Kirkwood as a potential photo spot and also the area around Pacific, MO, where the UP line toward Jefferson City and the BNSF ex-Frisco Cuba Sub run closely parallel to each other for a while. The UP is the far busier line but its traffic base is rather bland (mostly hoppers) and it has seemed to me that most of the power hauling it is relatively old and ratty looking, too. Don't count on more than a half-dozen trains on the BNSF side in daylight, although oil traffic has made it busier than it used to be.

For the 2-3 hour range, I'd suggest driving up to Hannibal, Mo., which offers BNSF and NS and impressive Mississippi River scenery, especially for BNSF. Check out the overlook just south of town for southbounds in the afternoon. Just don't go there on a day when there's a MoW curfew, like I did.

At one time, the Manufacturers' Railway, owned by Anheuser-Busch, was a big player in town, operating heavy trains to and from the brewery complex which is well south of downtown. Unfortunately, most of the brewery traffic now moves by truck, but if you head down there you might still find a Manufacturers'-painted engine moving malt cars around.

 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/15 15:10 by toledopatch.

Thank you for that info, Patch. I appreciate it.

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Tim Rich
S. Ogden, UT

Tim,
 Patch was very accurate in his assement of St Louis, as a life long St Louis resident I am sure I can answer any questions you may have . Just send me your questions in a PM.
                                                                                                                                          Mark Mautner