T.G.'s Photography Blog

On February 10, 2007, I was railfanning along TRRA's Merchants Subdivision in North St. Louis. While near North Market Street and North 1st Street, I spotted a train to the north coming south off the Merchants Bridge near Bremen Avenue. The green color of the locomotive in the far distance indicated to me that a former Burlington Northern locomotive was leading the train. Southbound at North Market Street The train came south approaching North Market Interlocking featuring a colorful lash up featuring FURX 7227 (ex-BN), BNSF 159 (ex-Santa Fe), and BNSF 7129. The train is a transfer run from TRRA's Madison Yard in Venice, Illinois, to BNSF's Lindenwood Yard in southwestern St. Louis, Missouri. FURX 7227 (ex-BN), BNSF 159 (ex-ATSF), and BNSF 7129 pass Grossman Iron & Steel. First Union Rail (FURX) 7227 is an SD40-2, built by Electro-Motive Division (EMD) for Burlington Northern (BN) in 1980. After working for BN, the locomotive became FURX 7227 before being sold to Norf...

Back on a hot summer evening in June of 2008, I was up chasing trains in North St. Louis. While hanging out on Branch Street I heard a train coming north on the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA) Merchants Subdivision. It turned out I was lucky enough to catch a BNSF manifest freight train being led by an ex-Santa Fe (SF) Warbonnet locomotive and a Canadian National (CN) cowl unit.  North Market Interlocking I first photograph the train as it rolled north through the TRRA's North Market Interlocking. The interlocking is listed as being at milepost 5.0 of the Merchants Subdivision, per a TRRA timetable. It is located between Branch Street, to the north, and North Market Street, to the south. North Market Interlocking is a junction where BNSF Hannibal Subdivision and a short NS line (now unused) interchange with the TRRA's Merchants Subdivision. The NS line connects on the west side of the interlocking, while the Hannibal Subdivision connects on the east side of th...

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.

A BNSF train, led by BNSF 4417 and BNSF 801, passes a parked Union Pacific coal train, with UP 8024 on the end, on the TRRA's Merchants Subdivision at Compton Avenue. The BNSF train was heading west toward Grand Interlocking (just to the west of this location) where it would get back onto the BNSF Hannibal Subdivision, before heading to BNSF's Lindenwood Yard. Once at Lindenwood Yard, the BNSF train would either continue on west on BNSF's Cuba Subdivision or south on BNSF's River Subdivision. UP 8024 is the distributed power unit (DPU) on this coal train. Photo taken: June 12, 2007. St. Louis, Missouri.

With the Gateway Arch in the background, BNSF 8016 is seen here heading west on the TRRA's Merchants Subdivision. There are actually two railroad bridges here. In the foreground is the Union Pacific's high line to Lesperance Street Yard, and the Merchants Subdivision's bridge right behind the UP bridge. Below them is Interstate 55 and Interstate 70. Photo taken: October 19, 2007. Saint Louis, Missouri. Photo © Tom Gatermann

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 ...

March 5, 2007. St. Louis, Missouri. BNSF 4416 leads a train south on the TRRA's Merchants Subdivision, in front of the old St. Louis Southwestern Railway (Cotton Belt) freight depot that is just north of Laclede's Landing. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

St. Louis, Missouri. June 23, 2008. Flooding from the Mississippi River, at Laclede's Landing. The railroad bridge is part of the TRRA's Merchants Subdivision. The larger bridge is the MLK Bridge, which connects St. Louis, MO with East St. Louis, IL. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

TRRA 2005 and TRRA 2008 lead a small train of private passenger cars south on the river front high line, which is part of  the TRRA Merchants Subdivision. The passenger cars were destined, I believe, for the Amtrak Station in downtown St. Louis. In the background a small boat is heading down the Mississippi River, between the Martin Luther King Bridge and the Eads Bridge. Photo taken: October 7, 2011. St. Louis, MO.

September 10, 2011. St. Louis, MO. BNSF 5829, leads a coal train south on the TRRA's Merchants Subdivision, at Biddle Street. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

September 10, 2011. St. Louis, MO. BNSF 6112 is the distributed power unit (DPU) on this coal train that is heading south on the Terminal Railroad's Merchants Subdivision. The train is on the high line bridge along the Mississippi River, just north of the Gateway Arch. The bridge in the background is the Martin Luther King Bridge. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

BNSF 6951 (an ex-Santa Fe SD40-2 ) descends the West Approach of the Terminal Railroad Association's (TRRA) Merchants Bridge . This view is looking east down Ferry Street. Photo taken: September 21, 2007. St. Louis, MO. Photo © Tom Gatermann

June 20, 2008. St. Louis, Missouri. Seen here passing under the Eads Bridge are empty coal cars on a southbound train that is rolling along on the TRRA's riverfront high line. At this time the Mississippi River was flooding the St. Louis riverfront. Photo © Tom Gatermann. #StLouis #railroading #flood #monochrome #train #river

With the Gateway Arch and part of the downtown St. Louis skyline in view, Union Pacific 8024 is seen here on a coal train that is parked on the TRRA's Merchants Subdivision, near Compton Avenue. UP 8024 was the distributed power unit (DPU) on this coal train. Next to the coal train, a BNSF manifest train makes its way west. This location is just to the east of Grand Interlocking , where the Merchants Subdivision, as well as the BNSF Hannibal Subdivision, and Union Pacific Jefferson City Subdivision all interchange with each other. Photo taken: June 12, 2007, at St. Louis, Missouri.

UP 5617 Parked on the TRRA October 31, 2006. St. Louis, Missouri. Union Pacific 5617 is lone unit on the point of a coal train that is parked on the TRRA's Merchants Subdivision. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

CSXT 7570 - St. Louis, MO CSX 7570 rolls south (away from the camera) on TRRA's Merchants Subdivision , in North St. Louis. CSX 7570 and another locomotive were trying to make a quick run past the mini-Death Star in the background. The large "Death Star" dome is part of Continental Cement Company. This photograph is looking south, from just north of Clinton Street.  CSX 7570 is a  General Electric built C40-8 model locomotive. The locomotive was built in 1989, for the CSX railroad. Since this photograph was taken, the locomotive has been sold off to GECX , a railroad leasing company, and is now GECX 7570. Photograph taken: July 14, 2008, at St. Louis, Missouri.

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.

BNSF 5007 - St. Louis, MO BNSF 5007 leads a freight train south on the TRRA's Merchants Subdivision's riverfront high line bridge. The train had come off of the BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision north of here at North Market Interlocking, which is between North Market Street and Branch Street. High Line Bridge The TRRA's high line bridge stretches above the riverfront at Laclede's Landing for approximately 1900 feet, between Carr Street on the north end and Washington Avenue on the south end. At the south end of the bridge, the Merchants Subdivision enters one of three short tunnels that carry the line under the Gateway Arch grounds. The current single-track bridge was built to replace a double-track bridge back in the 1990s. BNSF trains on the Merchants Subdivision Southbound BNSF trains come off the BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision and onto the TRRA's Merchants Subdivision at North Market Interlocking in North St. Louis. From North Market BNSF trai...

BNSF 6868 and BNSF 6384 - Merchants Sub - St. Louis, MO Still painted in their pre-merger paint schemes, BNSF 6868 and BNSF 6384 lead a northbound train past the old Cotton Belt (St. Louis & Southwestern RR) freight depot just north of Laclede's Landing in St. Louis. BNSF 6868 is a former Santa Fe Railway locomotive that is still painted in the Blue/Yellow Bonnet scheme. The locomotive is an SD40-2 that was built by the Electro Motive Division (EMD) of General Motors in 1980. BNSF 6384 is a former Burlington Northern locomotive still painted in BN's Cascade Green scheme . The locomotive is also an SD40-2, but was built by EMD in 1984. Photograph taken: January 8, 2005, at St. Louis, Missouri.

TRRA 1517 is on the point of a local doing some switching at TRRA's North Market Interlocking, on the TRRA's Merchants Subdivision, south of Branch Street. North Market Interlocking is where BNSF Hannibal Subdivision joins the Merchants Subdivision, in north St. Louis. The track on the left side of the image, behind the yellow hopper, is the BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision.  In the background is the old Illinois Terminal Highline Bridge . The Highline Bridge is an almost mile long bridge that snakes its way across north St. Louis between Branch Street, on the north end, and Hadley Street, on the southern end. The bridge's northern approach comes down to grade level at Branch Street, about a block or two to the left of where this photograph was taken. BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision also crosses Branch Street , next to the Highline Bridges north approach. Photo taken: December 11, 2004. St. Louis, Missouri.