urbanSTL

So I went out train spotting with Shadrach a couple of weeks ago. In theory, anyway. We got rather badly skunked in the actual moving trains department, but . . . at least there was a little yard action downtown.





We did, however spot some neat buildings. (To be detailed in another thread.)

Oh . . . off topic slightly, while I've been a little remiss on spotting 1:1 action, I did visit a neat local layout that is open to the public on a monthly basis:







































That's a legit St. Louis tourist attraction right? Even one that's not too terribly well known yet. Open on the first Sunday of the month from 11-4, so go check it out. And it's the standard local price: free. 5901 Hampton across from Midwest Money. (Which is on the layout in miniature. I think they're related.)

Seems like a good time for an update:



This isn't an especially good picture, but I feel like these signals are on borrowed time.










Used to be CPLs on the left here. And the access road was the IT under catenary.








Things had been pretty quiet all afternoon . . . until they weren't. Nothing moving at Dupo. Nothing at Madison. TRRA is just parked in Granite City. Nothing at Lennox. And then, bam. I can haz TRAINZ!

Finally went on a proper train spotting expedition Friday. There were all down on the Chester Sub, between Dupo and Chester. It's a great drive and the French Colonia remnants alone are well worth the trip. But this thread is about trains, so . . . 





There wasn't terribly much action, thanks to this fellow below tying up the northbound main.



A railroader friend tells me he believes it's an undercutter, which is a machine that scoops up ballast from below the track, cleans it, and replaces it. (I believe.) You can kind of see a gondola and conveyor. The thing was nearly a mile away from us at the time, so there's a LOT of telephoto compression going on making it hard to sort out what we're looking at.

We did see a few southbound freights moving.



But everything northbound was just parked on the main, either dead on hours or about to be. (I believe railroaders refer to that as being "hogged.") Some trains still had crews, but there were so many I can't believe it was going to last all that long.





(The above is just two examples. We saw at least four parked, and maybe as many as six. It was a little hard to make out.) Anyway, it was fun to finally get out.

A good time was had by all!