T.G.'s Photography Blog

BNSF 4779 leads a grain train north under I-255, on the Chester Subdivision at CP D009.   Back in 2006 it was common to see BNSF trackage rights trains on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision . I'm not sure if it is still the case today, as I've been away from the St. Louis area for many years now. Above, BNSF 4779 is leading this northbound grain train at Control Point (CP) D009 at Columbia, Illinois. A short while later, the train passes under CP D006's old Missouri Pacific cantilever signal bridges at UP's Dupo Yard. BNSF 4779 passes under the cantilever signal bridges at CPD006, at Dupo Yard. Photographs taken on July 23, 2006, at Columbia, IL., and Dupo, IL.

Back in April of 2008, I was able to photograph Union Pacific's (UP) heritage locomotive, UP 1995. UP 1995 was leading train MNLAS-22, a manifest train from North Little Rock, Arkansas, to the Alton & Southern's Gateway Yard, in East St. Louis, Illinois. The train originated at North Little Rock on April 22, 2008, and arrived at Gateway Yard on April 23, 2008. UP 1995 and UP 9419 lead train MNLAS-22, north of Fults, IL. I first caught train MNLAS-22 just to the north of Fults, Illinois, as it rolled north on UP's Chester Subdivision. At the location of the photographs above and below the train was about halfway between Fults and Chalfin Bridge, Illinois. The Chester Subdivision runs from Dexter, Missouri, to East St. Louis, Illinois. In Illinois, the line runs across the flat farmland that lies to the east of the Mississippi River. In the photographs taken north of Fults, Illinois, the distance between the spot the photographs were taken to the river bluffs in the backg...

UP 3985 - Chester Subdivision - Columbia, IL Back in October of 2010, Union Pacific's Challenger 3985 came to St. Louis, Missouri. On October 7, the steam locomotive took an excursion train south to Gorham, Illinois , and then back to St. Louis. The first photograph, above, is of the locomotive as it heads south on the Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision at Columbia, Illinois. This was the only photograph I managed to get of the locomotive on the outbound trip to Gorham. The train was traveling at a fast pace, and due to a road closure at Chester, Illinois, my dad and I could not keep with it. So, after lunch in Chester, we found a photographic spot to capture UP 3985 from on the return trip. UP 3985 - Kaskaskia River - Chester Subdivision After Union Pacific 3985 got to Gorham, Illinois, it was turned around on the wye tracks between the Chester Subdivision and the Mount Vernon Subdivision. It then began its journey back to St. Louis. On the return journey we c...

UP 8404 at Chalfin Bridge, IL UP 8404 (an EMD SD70ACe) leads a grain train north on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision at Milepost 26, in the flat farm lands of the Mississippi River valley in Southern Illinois. The train is between Chalfin Bridge, Illinois, to the south, and Valmeyer, Illinois, to the north. Chester Subdivision The Chester Subdivision runs between Valley Junction (Milepost 0) in East. St. Louis, Illinois, to Charleston Junction (Milepost 171.9) in Dexter, Missouri. Much of the rail line in Illinois runs through a wide open and flat landscape, which often allows for showing the entirety of the trains running on the line. For a point of reference in regards to distance in this photograph, the white tower to the left of the train is about two miles (3.2 km) away.  Photo taken: August 13, 2006, just north of Chalfin Bridge, Illinois.

UP 8214 and SP 338 - Fountain, IL Union Pacific 8214 and Southern Pacific 338 are leading an empty coal train north across Fountain Creek, at Fountain, IL., on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision. At the time of this photograph SP 338 was still in its Southern Pacific paint scheme, and was un-patched , even though the locomotive was owned by Union Pacific. When a locomotive is refereed to as being patched, it means the locomotive still retains the predecessor railroad's paint scheme, but its numbering has been changed by the railroad that currently owns it.  The train was on its way back to a mine in the Powder River Coal Basin , located in the Western United States. The train would travel north from here to St. Louis, then across Missouri to Kansas City. Then from Kansas City, the train would most likely travel to North Platte, NE, and then on toward a coal mine in Wyoming. Photo taken: June 19, 2004, at Fountain, Illinois.

CP 5982 and CP 5776 - Gorham, IL Canadian Pacific (CP) 5982 and CP 5776 lead a trailer train under the old signal bridges at Gorham, IL. The train was heading north on Union Pacific's (UP) Chester Subdivision, and it would eventually make its way to the St. Louis area, via Dupo, IL. Both of these locomotives were built as EMD SD40-2 models . CP 5982 was built in January, 1981, and CP 5776 was built in February 1976. These signal bridges date from the days when this line was a former Missouri Pacific (MoPac) line, before the Union Pacific acquired the MoPac in 1982. While both of these signal bridges look to still be visible on Google Maps' satellite view, many of the old MoPac era signal bridges along this line are now gone. The signal bridge in the background (middle right of the photograph) is a cantilever type signal bridge . This train was a surprise, and quite a different sight from the standard parade of Union Pacific Amour Yellow locomotives that haul tra...

UP 7162 at Columbia, IL In the late afternoon light, Union Pacific 7162 is leading a loaded coal train south on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision . The train has just left Dupo Yard to the north, and it is nearing the BB Road crossing, which is just north of Interstate 255. The red block signals in the distance are on the southern end of Dupo Yard, at what is commonly referred to as Bixby. The original image was a 35mm transparency that was converted to digital using a copy slide setup. Photo taken: Circa 2000. Columbia, Illinois.

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...

Union Pacific (UP) 9402, UP 9437, and UP 9557 lead a train north on the UP's Chester Subdivision at Flinton Station Road.The train had just crossed over the Kaskaskia River, a little south of this location. March 3, 2006. South of Modoc, Illinois.

A Union Pacific (UP) train rolls north on UP's Chester Subdivision. The train had just crossed over the Kaskaskia River, a bit south of this location, and was on its way toward the St. Louis area.  March 3, 2006. South of Modoc, Illinois.

Union Pacific 5976 is working as the DPU on this south bound load coal train, which is crossing over the Kaskaskia River on UP's Chester Subdivision. March 3, 2006. South of Modoc, Illinois.

Tank cars on a northbound Union Pacific freight train roll across the bridge over the Kaskaskia River, just south of Modoc, Illinois. I took this photograph from a boat ramp that is down river of the bridge. March 3, 2006. South of Modoc, Illinois.

UP 9055 and CN 2412 - Modoc, IL and Ellis Grove, IL Union Pacific (UP) 9055 and Canadian National (CN) 2412 lead a manifest freight train north over the Kaskaskia River, on the Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision. The Kaskaskia River bridge is located about a mile north of Kaskaskia Lock and Dam site. The lock and dam site is about a mile up river from the confluence of the Kaskaskia River and the Mississippi River. March 3, 2006, between Modoc, Illinois, and Ellis Grove, Illinois.

UP 8108 at Dupo Yard While waiting for a new crew, Union Pacific 8108 sits at the north end of Dupo Yard on an empty coal train. Once the train has a new crew it will proceed north on UP's Chester Subdivision to Valley Junction in East St. Louis, IL. From there it'll head west for the long trek back to the Powder River Coal Basin in Wyoming. November 2, 2005. Dupo, Illinois. Photo © Tom Gatermann. All rights reserved.

Chicago and Northwestern 8507 (a GE C40-8) is on the point of a Union Pacific train rolling south at mile post 10 on the UP's Chester Subdivision. I am actually not sure which of the locomotives is spewing the smoke out but whichever one it is, it is doing a great job. This image was scanned from a Kodak Ektachrome slide on a Nikon Coolscan 9000 ED film scanner. I scanned the image as a 16 bit NEF file (Nikon RAW file) and then used Adobe Camera RAW and Photoshop to post process the image. May 1997. Columbia, Illinois. Photo © Tom Gatermann. All rights reserved.

An end-of-train (EOT) device , commonly called a "FRED" (flashing-rear-end-device hangs on the end of a southbound train traveling on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision. For those who may not know, these devices are what replaced railway cabooses. They transmit information about the train, such as air brake pressure, to the locomotive, where the crew can see the information. With the wide openness of the land along the Chester Subdivision in this area photograph can capture both the front and end of the trains here in a single image. Photo taken: November 6, 2005. Chalfin Bridge, Illinois. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

After waiting for a new crew, Union Pacific 6510 gets the green signal to proceed south under the old cantilever type signal bridge , on UP's Chester Subdivision at Dupo Yard. This old signal bridge was still standing the last time I was in Dupo, circa 2014. It is located along Main Street, at Lindeman Avenue.  Photograph taken on November 2, 2005, at Dupo, Illinois.

Seen here heading south is Union Pacific 844, as it leads a train under the old MoPac signal bridge at Rhymer Road and Illinois Route 3, just north of McClure, Illinois. June 4, 2011. North of McClure, Illinois.

On the point of this tank car train is First Union Rail (FURX) 3042, with an ex-Conrail unit. The train is heading north on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision at Chalfin Bridge, IL . This curve at Chalfin Bridge is a popular spot, at least to me, along the Chester Subdivision, due to the rest of the subdivision being very straight between here and Dupo, IL. (Dupo is approximately twenty-three miles to the north of here). Counting this curve, there are three curves in the rail line between Chalfin Bridge and Dupo. If you take a look at this map at Open Railway Map , you can see that long portions of the Chester Subdivision stretch for miles without a curve. The rail line is also very flat, since it runs through the Mississippi River Valley, through southern Illinois. Update (2019-10-31): First Union Rail was a locomotive and rail car leasing company. In 2015, FURX was purchased by Wells Fargo, and was renamed Wells Fargo Rail. Photo taken: November 12, 2005, at Chalf...

With the light of another fall day coming to a close, an empty BNSF iron ore train sits on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision, near Chalfin Bridge, IL . The Chester Subdivision is double-tracked, but this northbound train had to wait for three or four other northbound trains to clear the line ahead of it, while a parade of southbound trains passed it on the other track. Once the rail line was cleared ahead this train then proceeded north into the St. Louis railroad gateway. Photo taken: November 6, 2005, near Chalfin Bridge, Illinois.