T.G.'s Photography Blog

BNSF 9293 leads a manifest train west at S. Kingshighway Blvd.   BNSF 9293 is a SD60M , which was delivered to the Burlington Northern (BN) Railroad in 1991. When this photograph was taken the locomotive had been "patched" with BNSF on the sides of the locomotive's cab. According to the Friends of the Burlington Northern, the order of locomotives numbered 9200 to 9298 are the only new units delivered to the BN in this paint scheme. Other locomotive classes were repainted in this scheme.    I caught BNSF 9293 as it was leading a manifest freight train east on BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision near the South Kingshighway Blvd. overpass in St. Louis, Missouri. The train had recently left BNSF's Lindenwood Yard, located a few miles to the west of this location. In a few miles it would pass through Grand Interlocking , where it would get onto the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis' tracks to continue east and north before getting back onto the Hannibal Subdivi...

TRRA 1508 leads a transfer run under the Hampton Avenue Bridge. Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA) 1508 leads a transfer job west on BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision. The train is passing under the Hampton Avenue bridge, just to the east of Knox Avenue. The train is about to enter BNSF's Lindenwood Yard .  TRRA 1508 is an EMD SW1500 model locomotive. It was built 1969 for the TRRA. In 2010 TRRA sold its SW1500s and replaced them with higher horsepower locomotives. The SW1500s were sold, I believe, to Progress Rail and shipped down to Georgia. Photograph taken on July 22, 2006, at St. Louis, Missouri.

BNSF 816 and BNSF 751 are southbound at the riverfront at Hannibal, MO. After making my way north along BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision from St. Louis, Missouri, I arrived at the subdivision's namesake town of Hannibal, Missouri. From the lookout atop Lovers' Leap, I spotted BNSF 816 and BNSF 751 leading a manifest freight south through the riverfront, along the Mississippi River. BNSF 816 and BNSF 751 with the Mississippi River in the background. In the background are the I-72 bridge and Norfolk Southern's lift bridge. Hannibal, Missouri, has two railroads that run through it. In addition to BNSF, Norfolk Southern's (NS) Springfield-Hannibal District crosses the Mississippi River between Missouri and Illinois. BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision crosses NS' Springfield-Hannibal District at a diamond crossing on the western side of the lift bridge. Going west from the diamond, the Hannibal District curves through a tunnel and rock-cut to the south before paralleling th...

In December 2006, at the east end of BNSF's Lindenwood Yard, I found a trio of locomotives that piqued my interest. The trio featured BNSF 643 (an ex-Santa Fe Warbonnet), BNSF 6934 (an SD40-2), and Wisconsin Central (WC) 3026, the heritage map anniversary locomotive. BNSF 643 is the lead locomotive on an eastbound/northbound manifest train at Lindenwood Yard. BNSF 643 (a C44-9W) was built in 1994 for the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) as ATSF 643. The locomotive was patched sometime after the Burlington Northern (BN) and Santa Fe merger. As of November 2019, BNSF 643 was still wearing its Warbonnet paint scheme , even though it was considerably more worn and faded. BNSF 643, BNSF 6934, and WC 3026 are eastbound along the River des Peres, at Sublette Ave. Built as ATSF 5191 in 1981 by Electromotive Division, BNSF 6943 was renumbered and repainted sometime after the BNSF-SF merger. The locomotive is an SD40-2, which is one of EMD's most popular freight locomotives ...

BNSF 9643, in BN's Executive paint scheme, leads a coal train south on the main track near MP 69 at Elsberry, MO. In July 2006, I drove along BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision from St. Louis, Missouri, to Hannibal, Missouri. In a span of thirty minutes, I photographed three trains at Elsberry, Missouri. After the feast of southbound trains, I wouldn't see another train until I got to Hannibal, Missouri. BNSF 9393 (SD70ACe) is the DP unit on BNSF 9643's train at Elsberry, MO. The Hannibal Subdivision is a signal-track rail line between St. Louis, Missouri , and Burlington, Iowa. Elsberry, Missouri, is about sixty miles north of St. Louis. The town is at milepost (MP) 68.2 of the Hannibal Subdivision, and the mileposts count up from St. Louis to Burlington.  Between St. Louis and Hannibal, the rail line closely follows Missouri Highway 79. Most of the Hannibal Subdivision north of St. Louis runs across the  flat farmland  that borders the western side of the Mississippi River. ...

With snow on the ground, BNSF 6385 (still in Burlington Northern Cascade Green), BNSF 518, BNSF 101 (still in the Warbonnet scheme, but re-lettered to BNSF), & FURX 1161 roll east on BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision, at South Kingshighway Blvd., in St. Louis, Missouri. BNSF 6385 leads a quartet of locomotives east on the Hannibal Subdivision.  The train is about two miles to the east of BNSF's Lindenwood Yard, where it departed from, and is heading toward Grand Avenue Interlocking . Grand Avenue Interlocking is about two miles further east of this location. Lines from BNSF, Union Pacific, and the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis all meet there. At Grand Avenue Interlocking the train will get onto TRRA's Merchants Subdivision for a roughly five-mile run, until it reaches North market Interlocking in North St. Louis , where the train will get back onto BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision.  BNSF 6385 is an EMD built SD40-2 . It was built for the Burlington Northern Rai...

BNSF 972 at S. Kinghighway Blvd. On a hot summer day, in August 2006, I caught BNSF 972 leading a train eastbound on BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision, at South Kingshighway Boulevard . in St. Louis, Missouri. The train had just left BNSF's Lindenwood Yard, a few miles to the west of here, and was making its way toward Grand Interlocking . BNSF 972 BNSF 972 was built for the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe in August of 1996, and it is a General Electric C44-9W model. At the time when the locomotive was built, the Burlington Northern and the Santa Fe railroads had been merged into the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Corporation, which happened in September 1995. The official merging of the two railroads did not occur until December 1996, at which time the railroad was named the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. In 2005, the railroad was renamed to the BNSF Railway, however, many people prior to this official name change referred to the railway and the BNSF. ...

BNSF 5504 at North Market Interlocking - St. Louis, MO BNSF 5504 leads a train northbound at TRRA's North Market Interlocking . The locomotives have just come off of the Terminal Railroad Association's (TRRA) Merchants Subdivision (which is just beyond the block signal) and onto the BNSF's Hannibal subdivision, at Branch Street , in North St. Louis, Missouri. BNSF Railway trains utilize the TRRA Merchants Subdivision for about five miles, between North Market Interlocking and Grand Interlocking. Both interlockings are controlled by the TRRA. Grand Interlocking is located a few miles west of downtown St. Louis, and is a junction of the Merchants Subdivision, BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision, and Union Pacific's Jefferson City Subdivision. Photo taken: August 22, 2006, at St. Louis, Missouri.

In this first photograph, BNSF 7824 and BNSF 7039 are seen sitting on the BNSF Hannibal Subdivision (the tracks curving in from the left side) at Grand Interlocking. The train was waiting for clearance to proceed east, through the interlocking and onto the TRRA Merchants Subdivision. The other set of tracks that curve in from the right side of the photograph are Union Pacific's Jefferson City Subdivision. After the BNSF train makes its way onto the TRRA Merchants Subdivision , it will head toward north St. Louis, where the train will get back on to the Hannibal Subdivision at North Market Interlocking. The road way in the photograph is the Chouteau Avenue overpass. This second image shows a closer view of the BNSF train as it sits waiting to proceed through the interlocking. Grand Interlocking is one of the busiest railroad junctions in the St. Louis area. Amtrak, BNSF, TRRA, and UP trains all pass through this junction. Amtrak trains that pass through the interlocking ...

BNSF 4926 leads a train east past the Grand Boulevard Metrolink station, at Grand Interlocking . The train is crossing over Union Pacific's Jefferson City Subdivision , and is coming from BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision and onto TRRA's Merchants Subdivision. BNSF uses the Merchants Subdivision between Grand Interlocking (just west of downtown St. Louis) and North Market Interlocking (in North St. Louis, between North Market and Branch Street). At North Market Interlocking BNSF's trains can get back onto the Hannibal Subdivision. Since this photograph was taken, the Grand Boulevard overpass has been replaced, and the Metrolink station has been rebuilt and reconfigured. The bridge in the background is the old Spring Avenue  overpass, which has since been torn down, but not replaced. The Spring Avenue overpass had been closed for many years prior to being demolished. October 30, 2006. St. Louis, Missouri.

BNSF 4129 brings up the end of an empty coal train at Branch Street. BNSF 4129 is the distributed power (DP) unit on this empty hopper car train that is heading north on BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision , at Branch Street, in St. Louis, MO. The train has just crossed Branch Street and is passing alongside the old Illinois Traction System (ITS)/Illinois Terminal Railroad (ITC) approach to the McKinley Bridge. The McKinley Bridge crosses the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri and Venice, Illinois. Seen in the photo on the bridge's approach are the old catenary suspension supports for the ITS/ITC trains, which were originally electrically powered. In the past the McKinley Bridge carried both trains and automobiles over the river. These days, the bridge serves automobiles, pedestrians, and bikes. Today, the approach allows biking and pedestrian traffic to access the McKinley Bridge. If you follow this link , you can see another view of the approach while it was being...

BNSF 643, BNSF 6943, and WC 3026 - Hannibal Subdivision BNSF 643, BNSF 6943, and Wisconsin Central 3026 lead a BNSF manifest freight train east near Sublette Avenue. Painted in a "map" scheme, WC 3026 is WC's 10th anniversary unit that also celebrated Wisconsin's sesquicentennial anniversary of statehood. BNSF 643 is a former Santa Fe locomotive that is still painted in Santa Fe's Warbonne t paint scheme. Photo take: December 24, 2006, at St. Louis, Missouri.

May 26, 2005. Clarksville, MO. BNSF 9637 sits on the Hannibal Sub with an empty coal train, while waiting for rail traffic ahead to clear. There were about three or four trains parked back-to-back on the main line, all waiting to go north. Here's a link to another one of the trains that day that was waiting to head north . BNSF 9637, at this time, was still painted in Burlington Northern's executive paint scheme. Photo © Tom Gatermann

BNSF 9683 (an EMD SD70MAC) is serving as the distributed power unit (DPU) on a northbound empty coal drag. Rail traffic this day on BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision was busy, and there were a number of trains, including this one, waiting for traffic to clear. Here is a link to another photograph of one of the trains that was waiting to proceed north. BNSF 9683, at this time, was still painted in Burlington Northern's executive paint scheme. May 26, 2005. Clarksville, MO. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

May 23, 2006. St. Louis, MO. BNSF 4562 and UP 8119 pass each other near South Kingshighway Blvd. BNSF 4562 is rolling west on BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision, while UP 8119 is working as the DPU on an eastbound coal train on the UP's Jefferson City Subdivision.

September 21, 2007. St. Louis, Missouri. BNSF 6076 is east bound on the BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision. Photo © Tom Gatermann. #BNSF #railway #railroad #railroadphotography #StLouisRailroading #MissouriRailroads #MissouriRailroading

September 21, 2007. St. Louis, MO. BNSF 6076 leands an eastbound empty coal train on the BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision, between Hampton Ave. and Kingshighway Blvd. The train had just left BNSF's Lindenwood Yard. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

October 17, 2008. Keokuk, Iowa. BNSF 2940 works the Keokuk Union Depot yard alongside BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision, next to the. The locomotive was on the BNSF Hannibal Subdivision at the time the photo was taken. The locomotive moved north, and then backed south into the yard. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

December 11, 2011. St. Louis, Missouri. BNSF 9298 leads an empty hopper train east at South Kingshighway Blvd., on BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

BNSF 5074 is seen here heading west on the BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision , near Tower Grove Avenue. The train was slowly making its way toward BNSF's Lindenwood Yard, which is located on the southwestern edge of St. Louis, along Interstate 44. The train had just passed through Grand Interlocking , to the east of here. Photo taken: April 28, 2007. St. Louis, Missouri.