I explored there when I was in college. Alone. Ah, to be young, invincible and foolish. I shudder at the thought of it now.
Isn't it funny how things change when you get older, have responsibility etc.... I used to explore Lemp alone, the Continental building (Pre-renovation), hopped a few freight trains after a few beers... Ahhh the golden years.... I still have the urge though, just not the will power. One of these days I will be foolish again... Oh yes... I will
Thanks for the pics... Did you run into anybody down there? was it pretty much a dead end from the entrance on Cass? Or were there openings throughout?
there arent really any openings throughout, unless you wanted to hop the fence and fall down a really steep embankment from nearby apartments. i ran into one guy, he was smoking some rock for sure, you could smell it when you got closer to the area he was in. when he saw us he ran away, so i snapped one pic of him. anyway, we went back about a half mile or so, but the mud/no flashlight thing kinda ruined it for us. we ran into some sort of factory or shop where it was evident people still use, and that blocks off most of the existing tunnels. it wasnt a dead end, theres a small passage way that i wanted to explore further back to the right but again the mud/no flashlight thing wouldve made for an awful time. i would definitely go back soon, but with some decent boots and a couple of flashlights. i also went into the clemens house on cass, which i also took pictures of. you can see those in another thread on here.
again, if anyone has any ideas or places theyd like explored but dont want to do it themselves, were your guys. we enjoy every bit of this.
again, if anyone has any ideas or places theyd like explored but dont want to do it themselves, were your guys. we enjoy every bit of this.
Also check out sonicatrophy.com
It has quite an extensive collection of photographs of urban decay in and around STL... Its a nicely designed site as well.
Lemp is amazing, but occupied by industrial tenants on most ground floors, therefore, pretty risky in terms of trespassing. Check out my Lemp pics on the Lemp thread
There's also another industrial building visible from the Missouri side. It might be for some kind of grain, likely now abandoned, though. http://www.builtstlouis.net/eaststlouis/intro.html It's in the first picture, kind of in the middle. East St. Louis is kind of a sad sight, although parts of St. Louis are, too.
Gunkanjima would be neat to explore. It's an island off the coast of Japan and was occupied from 1880s until 1974. There's a bunch of highrises there that have been barely touched since 1974, and the hospitals still have old medicine and files (obviously in Japanese) lying around. It's really interesting, but travel is prohibited because it could be dangerous. It's amazing, though.
From the wiki page there's pictures and videos of the island. There's a video of a former resident touring the buildings and telling stories. It's in Japanese but there are subtitles.
Just a word about these tunnels. They were built about 1930 by the Illinois Terminal (former Illinois traction) electric interurban railway. The terminal building was largely a freight warehouse with a passenger station. Passengers were transported to track level on a large elevator and the building to this day has a bas-relief of an IT interurban.
The tunnels, station, elevated and the McKinley bridge were all built by the same railroad (the bridge was built in 1910) and carried intercity interurban trains (about six daily round trips to Springfield and Peoria, ended in 1955), plus local commuter service to Madison, Granite Ciy and Alton (last ran in 1958) and local freight traffic.
The IT was a huge railroad by interurban standards. Very few others built on this scale. IT trains at one time offered sleeper, coach and parlor car service. For more info, refer to the book written by Paul Stringham. Google the Illinois Terminal railroiad and see what comes up. Wikipedia probably has something, too.
I doubt these tunnels could be used today. They probably are too far gone to be repaired and put back into use. The McKinley Bridge (named for the owner of IT in 1910, NOT the president of the same name) has been rebuilt as an auto-only span. The long approach on the east side of the river is gone as well.
I did see a Youtube clip of a trolley ride on this line a while back. You might be able to find it.
Just a word about these tunnels. They were built about 1930 by the Illinois Terminal (former Illinois traction) electric interurban railway. The terminal building was largely a freight warehouse with a passenger station. Passengers were transported to track level on a large elevator and the building to this day has a bas-relief of an IT interurban.
Probably not the station to which you were referring, but an interesting picture nonetheless. Anyone know where this was?
No it isn't, but it sure is interesting!!! Never saw that one before. It's for the Eads bridge and that puts it further south and east of the IT station. Very cool find!
Hey Eastside, do you happen to know what the building at the southeast corner of Clark and 18th was (just east of the US train shed and south of the US Postal Service building)? I suspect it had something to do with the railroad. I remember them tearing a nice old brick building down before they dug the trench for Metrolink, but I can't find any reference to it, or any pics.
I had to think a minute there. It may have been a mail handling facility where mail cars were handled. I do know the Railway Express Agency had a facility there as well, but I don't know exactly who had what or what the buildings were.
Eastsidewillie wrote:I had to think a minute there. It may have been a mail handling facility where mail cars were handled. I do know the Railway Express Agency had a facility there as well, but I don't know exactly who had what or what the buildings were.
It's been bugging me, because I seem to recall it being a nice looking brick building. If I recall correctly, it was about 4 stories and really long; I think it stretched the whole length between 16th and 18th, i.e. it might have made a great loft building. I can't find a picture or mention of it anywhere. I guess if I really want to know, I'm gonna have to visit the Mo. History Museum archives.
JCity wrote:when does the bike lane open on the McKinley bridge? I wish someone would recreate the "electric way" sign. how f ing cool was that!?
I said in the Ballpark Village thread that it would be cool to recreate some of those classic St. Louis signs and incorporate them into BPV. I was shouted down of course. I believe several people said that it would represent a pathetic obsession with the past, that we should instead look to the future...or something like that.
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