Great video and back story! I can't believe I didn't see this until now. Sad about all these disappearing rail lines. When I was very young, the Great Western paralleled the Chicago & North Western through my home town. The C&NW ended up buying that line, abandoning it and making it a bicycle path. Seems to be a common occurrence!
This is a fantastic video. I got a cab ride once on the RSSM operation, and it brought back a flood of memories of when I used to ride the IT trains to Gillespie, IL to visit my grandmother as a kid.
Scott, thanks for posting this! I always wanted to see/ photograph that operation in person, but never got the chance. Was a bit of a shock not having been to that area in a few years and seeing the subway gone! Sad sight.
This is one of the coolest train vids I've seen since it matches so closely the experience I had as a kid in the 70s watching the last runs of a local branch line in Illinois, thanks so much for posting.
Goose Island was still active in Chicago until earlier this year. I believe all of the street running tracks are now defunct. They still occassionally pull cars though, and I believe the railroad that owns the right of way is fighting the city to continue service.
@@johncotter1600 The people in charge of Chicago Terminal are railfans. They just can't let go of that awesome trackage even though no new industry would ever put up with the expense of that area.
This is so amazing! I wish there was more preserved footage of the underground section. I can hardly find any information on it. Your video and description have given me the most information by far.
that is highway 70 just north of downtown!! the train came out of the tunnel @ 10th & Cass street!!!!! The green painted bridge on 70 near the Stan musial bridge that says the trestle is the bridge the train went over. That tunnel ran under Tucker Blvd by the post dispatch
Wow! We walked this track a many days in the summer at 14 y/o in the early 60s. At that time we would often see large rolls of paper in box cars headed for Post Dispatch and Globe newspaper, the men on the docks would holler at us and we would take off running. I've been looking for a video of the rail tunnel starting at he Eads bridge and ending just west of Bush Stadium. We walked that tunnel also. We would enter the tunnel under the toll booth up on the bridge. When a train came we would stand in the arches inside the tunnel ,(very dangerous), I can't believe we risk it like that , but we were adventurous children who love to be around trains. I'm 73 now, and I have a shelf train around my office wall, Thanks for the memories.
Thank you for sharing this video. I was driving a truck that day down I-70 and saw the train on that rail over pass, got back in the yard and told other drivers about it and they all told me I was nuts. That over pass could not hold a train. Thank you.
Haha.. Well, actually the trestle and its related infrastructure on the Missouri side of the river was in excellent shape, and was overbuilt essentially. We connected with the Norfolk Southern at Branch Street in North St. Louis. I ran trains over it a couple hundred times and never had an issue. As I mentioned in the description, this entire line used to continue from Branch Street up a ramp and used the McKinley bridge to Madison, Illinois; this portion was taken out of service around 1978. The elevated structure on the Illinois side was wooden, and a part of it caught fire a decade ago. Today, the west approach to the McKinley has been rehabbed to carry a bike path over the bridge, but it drops down with the road ramp and takes bicyclists into Venice, instead of Madison like the wooden structure did. For safety reasons, the entire wooden trestle was ripped down a few years ago.
This is a great video, and will certainly bring back memories to former Illinois Terminal passengers/employees. It's a good thing they're going to turn the trackage into a bike/pedestrian trail soon, so it's better than being demolished or scrapped
Did you used to work out at a gym by Kehrs Mill and Clayton Road 10-15 years ago? I met someone there that said they were an engineer on this railroad.
This is one operation, I always wanted to get some shot of. Unfortunately, it never happened. This is indeed a rare video and I was glad you shared it. BTW, did the switchman hang on to the lead boxcar the whole time?
It's awesome seeing how some of the catenary poles still stand. I take the old Pennsylvania railroad commuter train for work and often love seeing these old structures still in use. Or over track that hasn't seen a train in decades. Wonder if the us government had taxed autos more and or built fewer Highways great American cities wouldn't have decayed as much as they did. Europe saved its cities in part by making driving a real expensive proposition.
The thing I liked about Illinois Terminal was that it was a triple-mode system: trolley/light rail, passenger rail, and freight - a true interurban. I tend to agree with you that we need more rail transit, although as a car enthusiast, candidly, I do love the open road. A perfect utopia would be a balance of both - and I think that is achievable in this country with proper leadership. A model system in my opinion is San Diego Trolley. Like with the Illinois Terminal, both the traveling public and industry is served equally, as they offer regular freight rail switching operations at night.
Scott Nauert I can take Amtrak from NYC to my mothers house in Delaware in 1.5 hours. Or 2.5 hours by car. The car is far more stressful not to mention the stress of parking and maintenance and insurance etc. The northeast corridor subsidizes all of Amtrak and that's not right. It shouldn't cost the same to go from Chicago to ny as it does to go from Delaware to ny. That's crazy.
The cut and subway are filled/buried. They used geotechnical styrofoam blocks against the building walls along the tracks because those walls were not engineered to have soil pushing against them. The styrofoam takes the load. I think concrete curtain walls would have been better.
I can't help but wonder how different the St. Louis area would be if they kept their interurbans and streetcars. You can see catenary poles all along the route, as this line was once electrified. The subway was filled in a few years ago as it was at risk of collapse. St. Louis really had a rough time after WWII, but with the proper investments, it could have had a completely different fate.
What highway is the train going over on that bridge starting at the 2:46 mark? Also, was this line part of the IT line that ran next to I-170 near Clayton one upon a time?
Msk578 - We're going over I-70, which is about where the new approach is to the new Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River. To answer your question - no, this was as far into St. Louis as the Illinois Terminal ever went. The Clayton line you're referring to is the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis' Central Belt line which ran from Page & I-170 south through Clayton to I-44 & Shrewsbury, part of which is now occupied by Metrolink.
Scott N Got it. I knew that old line had "Terminal" in the name, but wasn't sure if it was Illinois or not. I think that line had been abandoned since the late 80s (well before Metrolink went in). I am curious about the things hanging over the track on the elevated portions. Do they serve any purpose?
msk578 Not certain about the points made but ,if anyone else wants to uncover get a railroad job try Elumpa Railroad Jobs Alchemist (do a search on google ) ? Ive heard some pretty good things about it and my neighbor got excellent results with it.
It's not even that! Well, not yet, anyways. They spent a few hundred grand on painting the I-70 overpass green, but all that's up there are weeds. I don't know too many people who would want to bike into this part of St. Louis even if they did blow a few mil on the trail!
No sir; we moved it out of the tunnel on President's Day 2006 making it the very last movement ever. The City had already paved over the tracks through Hadley Street, but we busted right through it. It was sold to a transload company near Pinckneyville, IL.
I-70. I caught a small caliber round through the bottom glass of an SW1500 switcher one night about 2a. Gotta love N. St. Louis.....and that was in the 70's.
I was an engineer for the Illinois Terminal for 17 years, until a couple years after the N&W bought them out. Used to run trains across the McKinley Bridge to the Branch Street yard. We shoved cars of newsprint downtown for the Post Dispatch. I assume that's what these guys are delivering. That old terminal was built for electric trains. It didn't have any exhaust fans or vents. It got quite smoky under there with a couple SW1500 switchers! It was interesting traveling the banked curves at 10mph. We invaviably met a car or two head on transiting the McKinley Bridge. They would have to back up or try to go down the wrong lane! That grade was very steep and a couple SW1200's could only drag about 12 cars of silica sand up that hill out of STL. We used to try more - but never made it! Good old days!
In the winter time without the overgrowth, it was actually in pretty good shape underneath. Illinois Terminal overbuilt everything into St. Louis, so even for the time I worked there, there was very little needed in terms of track maintenance.
I have to apologize a little bit. I do not know hpw late my comment was typed and placed, but i nullify my comment. What is more of interest that in the past some parts of the railroads were electric. And of course no time to remove the poles, because it is costing money!
Great video and back story! I can't believe I didn't see this until now. Sad about all these disappearing rail lines. When I was very young, the Great Western paralleled the Chicago & North Western through my home town. The C&NW ended up buying that line, abandoning it and making it a bicycle path. Seems to be a common occurrence!
This is a fantastic video. I got a cab ride once on the RSSM operation, and it brought back a flood of memories of when I used to ride the IT trains to Gillespie, IL to visit my grandmother as a kid.
Scott, thanks for posting this! I always wanted to see/ photograph that operation in person, but never got the chance. Was a bit of a shock not having been to that area in a few years and seeing the subway gone! Sad sight.
This might be the most amazing video on UA-cam. I am so grateful you shot this as this is gone. Thank you so much for sharing.
This is one of the coolest train vids I've seen since it matches so closely the experience I had as a kid in the 70s watching the last runs of a local branch line in Illinois, thanks so much for posting.
Goose Island was still active in Chicago until earlier this year. I believe all of the street running tracks are now defunct. They still occassionally pull cars though, and I believe the railroad that owns the right of way is fighting the city to continue service.
@@johncotter1600 The people in charge of Chicago Terminal are railfans. They just can't let go of that awesome trackage even though no new industry would ever put up with the expense of that area.
I passed under the bridge in August 1968 18 days before I delployed to Vietnam after leaving Fort Leonard Wood Missouri to Philly
This area looks so different now. I miss catching this train from Cass Ave.
This is so amazing! I wish there was more preserved footage of the underground section. I can hardly find any information on it. Your video and description have given me the most information by far.
I took my camera to work with me and took hundreds of photos. Maybe I'll put a slide show together on here someday.
@@scottn940 GOD SCOLDED SATAN, FOR DECOMMISSIONING THE ILLINI TERMINAL!
that is highway 70 just north of downtown!! the train came out of the tunnel @ 10th & Cass street!!!!! The green painted bridge on 70 near the Stan musial bridge that says the trestle is the bridge the train went over. That tunnel ran under Tucker Blvd by the post dispatch
I remeber riding to GRanite City, IL on the old IT. It was a fun ride for a young railfan.
Wow! We walked this track a many days in the summer at 14 y/o in the early 60s. At that time we would often see large rolls of paper in box cars headed for Post Dispatch and Globe newspaper, the men on the docks would holler at us and we would take off running. I've been looking for a video of the rail tunnel starting at he Eads bridge and ending just west of Bush Stadium. We walked that tunnel also. We would enter the tunnel under the toll booth up on the bridge. When a train came we would stand in the arches inside the tunnel ,(very dangerous), I can't believe we risk it like that , but we were adventurous children who love to be around trains. I'm 73 now, and I have a shelf train around my office wall, Thanks for the memories.
Thank you for sharing this video. I was driving a truck that day down I-70 and saw the train on that rail over pass, got back in the yard and told other drivers about it and they all told me I was nuts. That over pass could not hold a train. Thank you.
Haha.. Well, actually the trestle and its related infrastructure on the Missouri side of the river was in excellent shape, and was overbuilt essentially. We connected with the Norfolk Southern at Branch Street in North St. Louis. I ran trains over it a couple hundred times and never had an issue. As I mentioned in the description, this entire line used to continue from Branch Street up a ramp and used the McKinley bridge to Madison, Illinois; this portion was taken out of service around 1978. The elevated structure on the Illinois side was wooden, and a part of it caught fire a decade ago. Today, the west approach to the McKinley has been rehabbed to carry a bike path over the bridge, but it drops down with the road ramp and takes bicyclists into Venice, instead of Madison like the wooden structure did. For safety reasons, the entire wooden trestle was ripped down a few years ago.
Enjoyed the video. The track was in pretty rough shape though
Great movie and an even better story. I live in St. Louis and had heard of this line but, until now, had never seen it in action. Thank you!!!!
Glad you enjoyed it
Awesome video. It reminds me of the line near my house that was closed down this spring.
So glad I stumbled upon this one! One of the best train videos on youtube.
Thanks for posting. I went to Venice and across the bridge around 1997 to see what was left of the IT. I didn't realize this trackage was used then.
That I 70 miss the old I t
This is a great video, and will certainly bring back memories to former Illinois Terminal passengers/employees.
It's a good thing they're going to turn the trackage into a bike/pedestrian trail soon, so it's better than being demolished or scrapped
that didn't age well
@@ICrailroadprod.2007 I wish I knew better back then, that nothing ever gets done in St. Louis unless it's a new road or highway
Very rare footage. Thanks for the trip....
Love all those sounds.
Old Scotty stole the handle, and the train it won't stop going no way to slow down.
Did you used to work out at a gym by Kehrs Mill and Clayton Road 10-15 years ago? I met someone there that said they were an engineer on this railroad.
Scott Singer - My God you have a good memory!! Yes, I sure did.
This is one operation, I always wanted to get some shot of. Unfortunately, it never happened. This is indeed a rare video and I was glad you shared it. BTW, did the switchman hang on to the lead boxcar the whole time?
Gary - The switchman would ride for everything except the trestle, for obvious safety reasons.
It's awesome seeing how some of the catenary poles still stand. I take the old Pennsylvania railroad commuter train for work and often love seeing these old structures still in use. Or over track that hasn't seen a train in decades. Wonder if the us government had taxed autos more and or built fewer
Highways great American cities wouldn't have decayed as much as they did. Europe saved its cities in part by making driving a real expensive proposition.
The thing I liked about Illinois Terminal was that it was a triple-mode system: trolley/light rail, passenger rail, and freight - a true interurban. I tend to agree with you that we need more rail transit, although as a car enthusiast, candidly, I do love the open road. A perfect utopia would be a balance of both - and I think that is achievable in this country with proper leadership. A model system in my opinion is San Diego Trolley. Like with the Illinois Terminal, both the traveling public and industry is served equally, as they offer regular freight rail switching operations at night.
Scott Nauert I can take Amtrak from NYC to my mothers house in Delaware in 1.5 hours. Or 2.5 hours by car. The car is far more stressful not to mention the stress of parking and maintenance and insurance etc. The northeast corridor subsidizes all of Amtrak and that's not right. It shouldn't cost the same to go from Chicago to ny as it does to go from Delaware to ny. That's crazy.
B bo - I totally agree. Our nation's public policy for rail is a disaster.
Government should have just never subsidized roads and air travel at all. Private rail service would have had a better chance.
The cut and subway are filled/buried. They used geotechnical styrofoam blocks against the building walls along the tracks because those walls were not engineered to have soil pushing against them. The styrofoam takes the load. I think concrete curtain walls would have been better.
I can't help but wonder how different the St. Louis area would be if they kept their interurbans and streetcars. You can see catenary poles all along the route, as this line was once electrified. The subway was filled in a few years ago as it was at risk of collapse. St. Louis really had a rough time after WWII, but with the proper investments, it could have had a completely different fate.
Was this line electrified at one time?
Yes sir
What highway is the train going over on that bridge starting at the 2:46 mark?
Also, was this line part of the IT line that ran next to I-170 near Clayton one upon a time?
Msk578 - We're going over I-70, which is about where the new approach is to the new Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River. To answer your question - no, this was as far into St. Louis as the Illinois Terminal ever went. The Clayton line you're referring to is the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis' Central Belt line which ran from Page & I-170 south through Clayton to I-44 & Shrewsbury, part of which is now occupied by Metrolink.
Scott N
Got it. I knew that old line had "Terminal" in the name, but wasn't sure if it was Illinois or not. I think that line had been abandoned since the late 80s (well before Metrolink went in).
I am curious about the things hanging over the track on the elevated portions. Do they serve any purpose?
msk578 - Those were catenary supports for the overhead wires that once powered IT's electric locomotives and trolleys.
msk578 Not certain about the points made but ,if anyone else wants to uncover get a railroad job try Elumpa Railroad Jobs Alchemist (do a search on google ) ? Ive heard some pretty good things about it and my neighbor got excellent results with it.
msk578 it looks like I-55
So sad the old IT tracks are gone plus the bridge on 70 is now walk trail so sad
It's not even that! Well, not yet, anyways. They spent a few hundred grand on painting the I-70 overpass green, but all that's up there are weeds. I don't know too many people who would want to bike into this part of St. Louis even if they did blow a few mil on the trail!
+Scott Nauert I remember when the I T ran thru there and over the Mcklenney, bridge😀
+Scott Nauert I agree not the best area 😕
isn't that loco still buried down there in the tunnel?
also that is an SW9 correct?
No sir; we moved it out of the tunnel on President's Day 2006 making it the very last movement ever. The City had already paved over the tracks through Hadley Street, but we busted right through it. It was sold to a transload company near Pinckneyville, IL.
Is it the same railroad that goes over I 55 north of Stl
I-70. I caught a small caliber round through the bottom glass of an SW1500 switcher one night about 2a. Gotta love N. St. Louis.....and that was in the 70's.
What do the underground lead to???
Illinois Terminal's freight & passenger station not much further south beyond where it ends in the video.
@@scottn940 that would be a great site coming in St Louis on Amtrak from Chicago
@@midwestgrammar2941- 100%!!!!
I was an engineer for the Illinois Terminal for 17 years, until a couple years after the N&W bought them out. Used to run trains across the McKinley Bridge to the Branch Street yard. We shoved cars of newsprint downtown for the Post Dispatch. I assume that's what these guys are delivering. That old terminal was built for electric trains. It didn't have any exhaust fans or vents. It got quite smoky under there with a couple SW1500 switchers! It was interesting traveling the banked curves at 10mph. We invaviably met a car or two head on transiting the McKinley Bridge. They would have to back up or try to go down the wrong lane! That grade was very steep and a couple SW1200's could only drag about 12 cars of silica sand up that hill out of STL. We used to try more - but never made it! Good old days!
The state of this infrastructure is of course horrible!
In the winter time without the overgrowth, it was actually in pretty good shape underneath. Illinois Terminal overbuilt everything into St. Louis, so even for the time I worked there, there was very little needed in terms of track maintenance.
I have to apologize a little bit. I do not know hpw late my comment was typed and placed, but i nullify my comment. What is more of interest that in the past some parts of the railroads were electric. And of course no time to remove the poles, because it is costing money!
This looks like it was filmed in a third world country.
David - It's North St. Louis... you're about right!
+David Barnett close enough....
Sad to say, that's what it has become.