Ice, snow, and railroading in St. Louis, December 2006, part I

 Starting on November 30, 2006, through the early morning of December 1, 2006, St. Louis, Missouri, and surrounding areas got hit by a winter storm. St. Louis escaped the large amounts of snow that other places across Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois received, but the region got blanketed with sleet and ice. With a small layer of snow of top. On December 1st, I ventured out to capture some railroad photography. 

UP 7114 under Spring Avenue at Grand Interlocking

The first photograph of the day was Union Pacific (UP) 7114 sitting under the old Spring Avenue overpass at Grand Interlocking. The train and its crew were waiting to head east off a siding along the Jefferson City Subdivision and through the interlocking. The old Spring Avenue overpass at this time hadn't been used for years, and half of it had already been torn down north of the tracks. Grand Interlocking is a junction of UP's Jefferson City Subdivision, BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision, and the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis' (TRRA) Merchants Subdivision. The interlocking is controlled by TRRA. 

UP 7114 sits under the old Spring Ave. viaduct, waiting
to lead the coal train east through Grand Interlocking.

Norfolk Southern's Luther Yard

 Next, I went to North St. Louis to Norfolk Southern's (NS) Luther Yard. There I caught a TRRA transfer job led by TRRA 1515. TRRA 1515 led the train south out of the yard on NS' St. Louis District (NS uses the term district instead of subdivision) near milepost 5.7. In the distance, NS 9695 was working an intermodal train in the yard.

TRRA 1515 is southbound at Luther Yard, as NS 9695 works in the yard in the distance.

The TRRA transfer job was heading to May Interlocking, about a mile south of the yard. There, the train would access and take the TRRA's Merchants Bridge over the Mississippi River to the TRRA's Madison Yard in Venice, Illinois.

TRRA 1515 rounds the curve just north of Adelaide Avenue on the NS tracks at Luther Yard.

After the TRRA train cleared out, NS 9695 and BNSF 5283 pulled down the mainline toward Adelaide Avenue. The crew of NS 9695 was putting together an intermodal train and needed to pull south to clear a switch before shoving back into the yard.

NS 9695 pulls its train south on the St. Louis District at Adelaide Avenue while switching at Luther Yard.

Looking north into Luther Yard from Carrie Avenue. A NS crew member stands next to
NS 9695 with a broom ready to sweep away troublesome snow. To the right is NS 9076.

UP 3876 westbound at Maplewood, MO.

To close out the day I headed over to Maplewood, Missouri, along Union Pacific's (UP) Jefferson City Subdivision. There I spotted a trespasser walking west on Track 2, and UP 3876 was coming west on Track 1. The engineer of UP 3876 was blowing the locomotive's horn to get the attention of the person on the tracks, but it was to no avail. Eventually, the person did move off of the tracks.

UP 3876 passes a trespasser walking on Track 2 of the Jefferson City Subdivision.

For the second day of photographs taken after the storm, click here.