May 1965 St. Louis Orientation Trip
by Mike Condren
I contacted my friend Dave Ingles about an orientation trip to St. Louis with my enrollment in grad school at the University of Missouri at Rolla. Rolla is 100 miles west of downtown St. Louis, a major rail terminal. I took the Frisco "Meteorite" from Fayetteville, AR to Springfield, MO where I transferred to the eastbound "Meteor" for the ride into St. Louis Union Station where I met Dave. I had ridden the vestibule most of the way from Rolla. On passing through the Frisco Lindenwood Yard, I had observed some units in the colors of EMD demonstrators so we headed to the Lindenwood Yard to check them out. |
May 1, 1965
| I shot these locos heading to Union Station for trains scheduled to leave later in the monring. |
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| We discovered a new Frisco GP35 being delivered in the, then new, Mandarin Orange and White livery. A switcher was pushing this unit in the shop for setting it up for operation. |
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| While there, we also shot these older GP35s and an Orange & White GE U25B. |
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| While we were there, this eastbound freight arrived. |
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| We discoverred these two E-8s in the engine service area of Lindenwood Yard. |
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| The south bound "Sunnyland" is seen just south of SE Jct. |
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| The merger of WAB, NC&StL, and N&W into the N&W system took place a few months before my trip. This former WAB switcher is working the TRRA yard near Union Station. |
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| We then headed to the former WAB yard in north St. Louis. |
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| These units were photographed in Alton, IL on May 1, 1965. |
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| We discovered these ALCo switchers in the Illinois Terminal yard in Madison, IL. |
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| This RS1 was shot in Madison, IL on May 1, 1965. |
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| These EMDs were also found at the engine terminal at Madison, IL on May 1, 1965. |
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| This caboose hop is on the former WAB track near Mitchell, IL |
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| The westbound "Southwestern Limited" is seen at Mitchell, IL on May 1, 1965. |
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| This westbound freight is seen at Lenox Jct, IL on May 1, 1965. |
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| This westbound freight is seen at Mitchell, IL on May 1, 1965. |
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| This Alton & Southern transfer is heading for the C&EI yard east of the Lenox Jct. tower. |
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| This westbound freight is seen at Mitchell, IL on May 1, 1965. |
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| This westbound C&EI freight is seen at the Lenox Jct tower on May 1, 1965. |
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| This GM&O freight is southbound at Lenox Jct Tower in Mitchell, IL. |
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| This FM H20-44 was on a transfer run at Mitchell, IL on May 1, 1965. |
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| This C&EI GP35 is seen in their yard in Mitchell, IL on May 1, 1965. |
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| This caboose hop is returning from a transfer run on May 1, 1965. |
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| These ALCo switchers are seen in the engine terminal of the GM&O in Venice, IL. |
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| These F-units were seen in the engine terminal in Venice, Il. |
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| We then headed to the former Nickel Plate yard in Madison, IL. |
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| Our next stop was the former WAB yard in Brooklyn, IL. |
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| These units were unique to the IC being built with the equivalent of a pair of FTs under switcher hoods. They were assigned to the IC yard in East St. Louis, IL on May 1, 1965. |
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| This passenger GP9 is seen in the engine terminal in E. St. Louis, IL on May 1, 1965. |
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| This GP9 is seen in the engine terminal at E. St. Louis, IL on May 1, 1965. |
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| These Alton & Southern units were photographed at their engine terminal in East St Louis, IL. |
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| We found this Cotton Belt freight heading north into their yard in East St. Louis, IL. |
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| This new GP35 is seen in the enginee terminal in E. St. Louis, IL on May 1, 1965. |
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| This H20-44 is seen in E. St. Louis, IL on May 1, 1965. |
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| Later in the day we found this south bound empty coal train south of Springfield, IL. |
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May 2, 1965
| After sleeping in Dave's dorm room, we found this former Nickel Plate locomotive on the former WAB line through Jacksonville, IL. |
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| We then headed to Springfield, IL where we found this N&W unit on the former WAB. |
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| These switchers were photographed in the engine terminal in Springfield, IL on May 2, 1965. |
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| This S-2 is seen working the yard in Springfield, IL. |
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| This RS-1 was shot in the engine terminal in Springfield, IL. |
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| We next headed to Taylorville, IL where we found this former WAB GP7. |
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| We next headed to Decatur, IL and the backshop area of this large yard complex. We first found these stored FM switchers. |
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| This former Wabash F-7 was also in the storage area. |
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| We then discovered this stored ALCo S2. |
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| We also found these FM H24-66 which had recently been re-engined with an ALCo 251 engine. |
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| This former Wabsh F-7 has seen better days. Maybe that is why it is stored/replaced by new GP35s. |
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| We even discovered this Lima among the units in storage. |
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| Next we shot the entire fleet of PA1 which had been retired and stored. |
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| We then caught these units in the engine service area. |
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| This N&W GP18 was on the ready track. |
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| This F-7 was on another string of units on the ready track. This is a former Wabash unit that has been repainted N&W. |
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| This C424 was built for use in Mexico so the controls are in Spanish, thus the "B" in the number, restricting it to booster, not lead, service. |
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| This F-7 is on the other end of the string of units. |
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| This Wabash GP35 was on the ready track. |
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| This GP35 was built for the Wabash but was delivered in N&W paint. |
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| This GP9 is outside of the backshop. |
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| We then went to the main line south of the station to get the north bound combined "Banner Blue/Wabash Cannon Ball". |
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| This slide was taken north of Decatur of the Banner Blue after the train was split. |
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| The Cannon Ball is seen here after the split at Decatur. |
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| We caught this north bound freight passing through the station at Decatur. |
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| This south bound freight is seen in the yard at Decatur. |
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| This new GP35 is still in Wabash colors at the shop in Decatur, IL. |
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| This N&W switcher is seen in the engine terminal at Decatur, IL. |
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| This GP7 is seen in the yard at Decatur, IL. |
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| Back at the station, we first see the E-7 getting its water tank refilled. |
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| Then we see the head end of my train back to St. Louis being prepared for its trip. |
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| Before boarding my train, its connecting train is shown from the tower arriving at the Decatur Station, |
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| After boarding my train, I got this shot of a switcher from my dome car seat. This would be my first ride in a dome car. |
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| Back in St. Louis, I get this shot of former Wabash power from the 21st St. bridge over the tracks. |
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| These GP18s are seen pulling a freight into the yard across from St Louis Union Station. |
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| These C&EI units are seen in the MP yard opposite Union Station on May 2, 1965. |
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| The power for the May 2, 1965 Meteor is seen backing into Union Station in St. Louis. |
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| After arriving back in St. Louis, I walked out on to the 21st Street bridge over the tracks to Union Station and shots these switchers at work. |
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| This Lima-Hamilton LS1200 is seen from the 21st St. bridge over the tracks on May 2, 1965. |
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| In the next shot, note the Gateway Arch under construction to the left of the tall warehouse. This LS1200 is switching an Illinois Central train as seen from the 21st St. bridge over the tracks on May 2, 1965. |
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| The "Texas Eagle" is seen preparing to leave Union Station. Note that the Gateway Arch is incomplete. |
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This page was designed and is maintained by Mike Condren. If you have materials
that you would like to contribute, contact me at mcondren@cbu.edu