T.G.'s Photography Blog

 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 Associ...

BNSF 8724 - crossing Hall Street toward Luther Yard On a few days in June 2007, I headed up to North St. Louis to see if there was any railroading action going on around Norfolk Southern's Luther Yard. On one of those days I was driving north on Hall Street when I saw the RR crossing lights start to flash for the transfer track between the BNSF's North St. Louis Yard and Norfolk Southern's Luther Yard. I pulled the car over quickly to the side of the road and was able to grab a couple of photographs as BNSF 8724 crossed Hall Street leading a transfer train to Luther Yard. This is one of the few images I have ever gotten of a train using this transfer track. The track is not a long one, as the two yards are only about three tenths of a mile (approximately half a kilometer) apart. At Luther Yard Next I headed over to Carrie Avenue on the south end of Norfolk Southern's Luther Yard in North St. Louis. Not much was going on at the time but I was able to captu...

Norfolk Southern (NS) 9599, Norfolk Southern 8450, and two other unknown locomotives, lead a train east along Switzer Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri. The train is rounding the curve at milepost 8 on the Norfolk Southern's St. Louis District. Soon, the train will be entering  Luther Yard  after having made the trek from Moberly, Missouri, where the St. Louis District meets up with the Norfolk Southern's Hannibal District and  Kansas City District . NS 9599 and NS 8450 - St. Louis, MO NS 9599 and NS 8450 NS 9599 is a model C44-9W (Dash 9-44CW), and was built by General Electric.  NS 8450 is ex-Conrail locomotive CR 757, according to RR Picture Archives. It is a model C40-8W, and was built by General Electric for Conrail in 1994. Since the time that this photograph was taken, NS 8450 has been repainted into Norfolk Southern's Thoroughbred paint scheme, which is the paint scheme that NS 8450 is painted in. NS St. Louis District The St. Louis District runs betwe...

NS 9360, NS 8699, and NS 9108 - Santa Fe Junction Norfolk Southern (NS) 9360, NS 8699, and NS 9108 are seen here making a light engine movement through Santa Fe Junction, after having come off the lower level of the Kansas City Terminal's (KCT) Highline Bridge. The train is heading north through the junction on KCT Track 330, as it makes its way toward the West Bottoms area of Kansas City. The locomotives would make their way from Track 330 to either Track 79 or Track 80 for the run north to the West Bottoms. The foreground track, next to Track 330, is Track 79. Highline Bridge approaches In the background of the photograph is the eastern approach to the upper deck of the Highline Bridge at Santa Fe Junction. The Highline Bridge crosses over the Kansas River at Kansas City, Kansas. The upper deck of the bridge allows trains making their way between Kansas City Union Station and BNSF's Fort Scott Subdivision, to the east (left) of the photograph, and Union Paci...

NKP 765 leads train O99 south at Palmer, IL. Nickel Plate Road (NKP) 765 , Norfolk Southern (NS) 1072, and NS 1070 lead NS train O99 south on the Brooklyn District near Palmer, Illinois. The steam locomotive and its train were on the way from Decatur, Illinois, to the St. Louis, Missouri, area to run some Norfolk Southern employee appreciation excursions, over the weekend of September 8-9, 2012. Norfolk Southern 1070 and Norfolk Southern 1072 are two of Norfolk Southern's heritage locomotives. These locomotives are painted in past paint schemes of railroads that NS has merged with over the years. NS 1072 is painted in an Illinois Terminal Railroad paint scheme, while NS 1070 is painted in a Wabash Railroad paint scheme. Photo taken: September 6, 2012. Palmer, Illinois. 

NS 9947 at BN Crossing Norfolk Southern 9447 is leading a train westbound on KCT Main 4, through BN Crossing at Santa Fe Junction . The train is crossing over the diamonds that intersect with BNSF's Fort Scott Subdivision. From here the train could have either gone west over the lower deck of KCT's Highline Bridge, over the Kansas River, or it could have taken a turn to the southwest and gone toward BNSF's Argentine Yard in Kansas City, Kansas. The taller bridge is the flyover that connects KCT's tracks by KC Union Station (to the east of here) to BNSF's Argentine Yard (to the west/southwest of Santa Fe Junction). The flyover carries tracks, AC1 and AC2. Before the flyover was built, trains would use the ground level tracks, KCT Main 3 and KCT Main 4 (the one NS 9447 is on) to get between Argentine Yard and the KCT tracks by KC Union Station. The bridge in front of the flyover is the connector track between the Main 2 on the Fort Scott Subdivision ...

NS 6783 (ex-Conrail) nearing Hole in the Wall on the Springfield Subdivision . Here, Norfolk Southern (NS) 6783, a former Conrail (external link) locomotive, leads a manifest freight train south on the joint trackage next to the north approach. The train will take the switch just ahead of it, go to its left, and pass through Hole in the Wall. Hole in the Wall is the name given to a pass through on the joint Union Pacific (UP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS) trackage in East St. Louis that passes under the TRRA's north approach to the MacArthur Bridge. The UP and KCS share trackage between Valley Junction , located in East St. Louis, Illinois, and Godfrey, Illinois, to the north of here. The grain cars to the left of the photograph are on a track that serves a facility along the East St. Louis riverfront. NS 6783 (ex-Conrail) is exiting Hole in the Wall. NS 6783 is now coming out from under the north approach to the MacArthur Bridge, through "Hole In The Wa...

Union Pacific 2979 (an EMD SD40-2) and an unknown Norfolk Southern unit lead a trailer train south at mile post 10 on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision . The train is approaching the DD Road crossing, just to the south of Interstate 255. In the background, the train is passing under the Interstate 255 overpass. From here, the train will continue south on the Chester Subdivision down into southern Illinois, passing through the town of Chester, Illinois, which the rail line is named for. After, continuing south from Chester, it will pass through Gorham, Illinois, where the Union Pacific's Mount Vernon Subdivision meets up with the Chester Subdivision. Eventually, the train will cross over the Mississippi River into Missouri, from Thebes, IL. Once in Missouri, it  will travel on into Arkansas, and most likely on toward Texas. Though, it could also have headed toward the Memphis, Tennessee area. About the image The image was scanned from a Kodak Ektachrome slide, us...

BNSF 9833 works as the distributed power unit (DPU) on an east bound coal train, while a Norfolk Southern train and another BNSF train wait their turn to roll through Birmingham Junction .  The BNSF's Brookfield Subdivision and Norfolk Southern's Kansas City District share tracks between North Kansas City, Missouri and Birmingham, Missouri. Way back when I took this image, Birmingham Junction was easily accessible. The last time I was there around 2013 or 2014, the access road, from which I took this image, was closed off and no trespassing signs were posted. This image was captured on Kodak 400 Royal Gold film and scanned on a Nikon Coolscan film scanner. The resulting scan was saved as a Nikon NEF RAW file, which was then post processed in Adobe Camera RAW and Adobe Photoshop. Photo taken: Spring 2001. Birmingham, Missouri.

December 11, 2004. St. Louis, MO. Union Pacific 4504 and Norfolk Southern (NS) 9804 lead a NS auto parts train along North 2nd Street. The train was heading toward NS' Luther Yard in North St. Louis. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

November 6, 2005. Norfolk Southern 8867 rolls north on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision, along the tree covered bluffs at Valmeyer, Illinois. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

October 23, 2005. Gasconade, Missouri. Union Pacific (UP) 4294 and Norfolk Southern (NS) 9841 lead an eastbound train across the Gasconade River Bridge on the UP's Jefferson City Subdivision. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

NS 9270 and NS 8687 June 9, 2007. St. Louis, MO. With a bit of Cableicous​ framing, NS 9270 and NS 8687 roll west on the west approach of the McArthur Bridge, near Gratiot Interlocking. The light engine movement was heading to the UP's 12th Street Yard to pick up a string of cars. Meanwhile, the Union Pacific locomotive was on the point of a westbound train that was waiting for clearance to proceed through the interlocking and onto the UP's Jefferson City Subdivision. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

NS 8925 & UP 9765 at Gateway Yard with the Gateway Arch. Norfolk Southern 8925 and Union Pacific 9765 are on the point of a manifest train that is making its way through the Alton & Southern's Gateway Yard, with the downtown St. Louis' skyline in the background. Gateway Yard is one of two hump and classification yards in the St. Louis area. The other hump yard is the TRRA's Madison Yard , located in Madison, IL an Venice, IL. The Gateway Yard's western end is at Valley Junction in East. St. Louis, IL., while the eastern end of the yard is in Alorton, IL. In 1968, the Missouri Pacific and the Chicago & North Western railroads purchased the Alton & Southern and operated the railroad jointly. Today, the Alton & Southern is owned by the Union Pacific Railroad, which now owns both the Missouri Pacific and Chicago & North Western railroads. Photo taken: December 24, 2006. Alorton, Illinois. Post External Links:  About The Alton &...

NS 5575 - St. Louis, MO NS 5575 and NS 5230 are on the point of a transfer train on the TRRA's Merchants Bridge in St. Louis. NS 5575's train had come to a stop, and was waiting for the other train next to it to clear West Approach Interlocking. Once the other train cleared the interlocking, NS 5575 and its train would continue down the approach to May Street Interlocking, and on to Norfolk Southern's Luther Yard in North St. Louis. The train was coming from the TRRA's Madison Yard in the Venice, Illinois, and Madison, Illinois areas. Photograph taken: December 11, 2004, at St. Louis, Missouri.

NS 9865 - Birmingham, MO Norfolk Southern 9865 leads an east bound train through a grade crossing at Birmingham Junction . The train was heading to Norfolk Southern's Avondale Yard in North Kansas City, Missouri, which is about eight miles from this location. Birmingham Junction Birmingham Junction is at Birmingham, Missouri, and it features two double-track main lines, shared by four railroads, crossing each other at a diamond crossing, plus two industrial leads. The rail line that NS 9865 is on is shared by both the Norfolk Southern Kansas City District and the BNSF Brookfield Subdivision. The other main line is a joint line shared by the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Subdivision and Union Pacific's Trenton Subdivision . At the time this photograph was taken the CP-UP line was jointly operated by the Illinois, Chicago, & Eastern (ICE) and Union Pacific. The industrial leads diverge from the joint BNSF-NS line on a single track and then split a little north of th...

NS 8835 - St. Louis, MO Norfolk Southern 8835 (a General Electric C40-9) leads a freight train south under the Adelaide Avenue overpass in North St. Louis. The train had just left Norfolk Southern's Luther Yard , which is just north of this location. NS 8835 and its train were heading toward the Merchants Bridge , where the train would cross over the Mississippi River into Illinois. Meanwhile, a northbound intermodal stack train is heading toward Luther Yard. Photograph taken: St. Louis, Missouri. December 11, 2004.

NS 5806 - Brooklyn District - Raymond, IL Norfolk Southern 5806 (an EMD GP38-3) leads an autorack train south on Norfolk Southern's Brooklyn District . This Brooklyn District is a single track mainline with sidings that runs between Decatur, Illinois, to the north, and the St. Louis, Missouri, area to the south. Photo taken: April 30, 2005. Raymond, Illinois.