BNSF 7704 Leading in the Snow On The Merchants Subdivision

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Back in February of 2008, I caught BNSF 7704 is leading a trio of locomotives and their empty coal train east on the TRRA's Merchants Subdivision, at Jefferson Avenue. Back in 2008, when this photograph was taken, the Jefferson Avenue overpass was being replaced. You can see one of the new bridge piers to the right of the train.

BNSF 7704 leads a trio of locomotives on the point of an empty coal train.
 
The tracks to the left and in the foreground are part of Union Pacific's Jefferson City Subdivision. The Jefferson City Subdivision and the Merchants Subdivision run side-by-side between Gratiot Interlocking (to the east) and Grand Avenue Interlocking to the west. Between Jefferson Avenue and Gratiot Interlocking, Union Pacific's 12th Street Yard sits between the two subdivisions. 

BNSF trains use about five miles of the TRRA Merchants Subdivision between Grand Interlocking (sometimes referred to as Grand Avenue Interlocking) and North Market Interlocking, located in North St. Louis. The Merchants Subdivision connects two segments of BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision. 

In addition to the new bridge changing this scene, the building and structures in the background have also changed since this photograph was taken. The Pevely smokestack and the accompanying buildings that formed the old Pevely Dairy complex have been torn down to make way for expansion of St. Louis University Hospital. The Pevely buildings were torn down in 2012.

Photo taken on February 2, 2008, at St. Louis, Missouri.

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