T.G.'s Photography Blog

The now unused Sheffield Interlocking Tower 8 sits beside the Kansas City Terminal's (KCT) Sheffield Flyover. Sheffield Tower was operated by the KCT but has stood unused for many years. The Sheffield flyover was built to help facilitate the movement of trains through the area, since there are multiple railroad lines that interchanged and crossed the ground level KCT main line tracks.  The flyover runs between Rock Creek Junction (on the eastern end, by I-435) and Belmont Avenue (on the western end). The KCT utilizes both the flyover and ground level tracks to facilitate the movement of trains on its rail corridor between Rock Creek Junction and Santa Fe Junction (to the west of KC Union Station).  Photo taken: September 26, 2005. Kansas City, Missouri.

Pana Railroad Tower Once the at the crossroads of four railroad lines, this old tower now stands unused. Of the four railroad lines that used to pass through and cross at Pana, only the Union Pacific's (UP) Pana Subdivision is still used. The Pana Subdivision was acquired by UP via a merger with the Missouri Pacific Railroad (MoPac). The old MoPac acquired the line from Conrail, when Conrail sold the line in the 1970s. Photo taken: November 25, 2011. Pana, Illinois.

UP 9513 - Dupo, IL On a cold winter's day, Union Pacific (UP) 9513 rolls north toward the tower in UP's Dupo Yard , on the Chester Subdivision. From here the train would make its way north toward the TRRA's Valley Junction in East. St. Louis, Illinois. Photo taken: January 9, 2005, at Dupo, Illinois.

Y696 and UP 7240 next to the Dupo Yard tower - Dupo, IL. Union Pacific (UP) Y696 works a switch job in UP's Dupo Yard in January 2005. In the distance is UP 7240, on the point of a southbound train that was being re-crewed. Once the train has a new crew it will head south on UP's Chester Subdivision. Dupo Yard is Union Pacific's intermodal facility for the St. Louis area. Photograph taken: January 9, 2005, at Dupo, Illinois.

UP 9910 and UP 3120 - Gateway Yard hump UP 9910 and UP 3120, two EMD SD40-2s, sit on one of the two hump tracks at the Alton and Southern's Gateway Yard . UP 9910 is fitted with remote control equipment so that the operator can be on the ground as the unit goes about its duties. If you look closely you can see the remote operator walking next to the two locomotives. UP 3120, at the time, did not appear to be fitted with remote control equipment. To the left of the locomotives, and between the two hump towers, you see an auto rack car beginning to roll down the other hump track. Cars are pushed over the hump from the left and roll down the right side into what are called bowl tracks, in order to build new trains from trains that arrive at the yard for classification. The speed of the cars as they roll down the hump are controlled by retarders, which apply various amounts of pressure to the rail cars' wheels. Gateway Yard is one of two hump yards in the St. Louis a...