St. Louis Transit Photos

framer · PostDec 17, 2014#512014-12-17T06:42+00:00

roger wyoming II wrote:^ okay, I'm pretty sure now that they were mistaken about Market being called Franklin.... Franklin indeed did run through the present-day convention center/dome site and it later was re-named MLK Drive (before running along what was formerly known as Easton Ave.)

Yep. And the Hodiamont line ran up Franklin. I think we've got it figured out!

BTW, The St. Louis Streetcar Story has a photo of this block (looking west from 7th) on page 56.

wabash · PostDec 17, 2014#522014-12-17T09:53+00:00

Whoa. I'm impressed. Thanks for the help. While I thought this was up around Wellston, I also thought those two little towers in the background looked really familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. You guys are spot on. Now I realize they're the two steeples of the Shrine of St. Joseph at N 11th & Biddle.

That's an amazing photo from 1953. What a great street.

roger wyoming II · PostDec 17, 2014#532014-12-17T13:44+00:00

^ nice catch on the Shrine!

Initially I thought this might be somewhere in Midtown before pinning it down.... its crazy too think what this city was like in its heyday.

I'm not positive, but I think Franklin may have serviced the Veterans/MLK Bridge, which had opened up just two years prior to the 1953 photo. great find on the 53 photo, framer!

PostDec 17, 2014#542014-12-17T16:08+00:00

Staying on this old Franklin Street area, Steve P. has a post on a new book out about convention center developments that includes an in-depth chapter on the Cervantes Center.

http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/2014/12/r ... t-sanders/

I'll try to give it a read sometime..... Steve mentions there were competing locations for the center including near Union Station. That may have been a better area or at least somewhere that abutted the elevated 40 lanes which already serve to fortress downtown. Besides the demo for the present site, its location blocks off a harmonious transition to the Columbus Square area.

I think Steve also has a post of photos of the pre-clearance Dome and Convention area and I'l try to dig that up at some point.

wabash · PostFeb 04, 2015#552015-02-04T02:45+00:00

The Flashback Friday on Metro's NextSTL Blog was really great on Jan. 23rd :

Photos like that one, and this one which I previously posted:

make me think of how, despite many heartbreaking setbacks, there are pockets of St. Louis transit that are better today than they've ever been.

PostFeb 04, 2015#562015-02-04T16:50+00:00

Some shots of the old livery & Bill Clinton's 1994 ride:

PostMar 05, 2015#572015-03-05T01:52+00:00

Here's an interesting look at the Delmar Wabash station:

James Walsh contributed this photo to MissouriDepots. He cites it as 1926.

I wonder if this was the original "loop" and maybe it wasn't moved out to Kingsland until a little later?

PostMar 06, 2015#582015-03-06T04:16+00:00

PostApr 22, 2015#592015-04-22T23:44+00:00

From Metro's NextStopSTL Blog - 1960's:

2013:

PostMay 05, 2015#602015-05-05T21:45+00:00

stlgasm · PostMay 06, 2015#612015-05-06T03:24+00:00

^^Man, St. Louis knew how to strut her stuff back in those days. That is big city to the bone.

Here's a little-known vestige of transit(ish)-related infrastructure. There's an old pedestrian tunnel underneath Forest Park Parkway that connects Wellesley Avenue in University City to Westmoreland Avenue in Clayton. Pretty sure it was built primarily so pedestrians could cross Forest Park Parkway (formerly Millbrook Ave) safely without dodging streetcars, which turned from Millbrook onto Pershing Avenue. I took a couple pics of the tunnel last week:

A public pedestrian tunnel with no graffiti, you ask? I was as surprised as you to see the walls so pristine, because here's what it looked like about 5 years ago:

I have to admit, I prefer the graffiti-- it had a gritty 1970s New York vibe, like right out of The Warriors or something. A sharp contrast to the upscale leafy neighborhoods that it connects.

There's a similar tunnel in Clayton on the southwest side of Shaw Park underneath the elevated MetroLink Blue Line tracks near the Forest Park Parkway/Innerbelt junction.

For more views of these tunnels, check out this interesting website: http://dankelley.co/?i=19

There was also a pedestrian tunnel at Delmar & Kingsland in the Loop. I'm guessing it was removed when streetcar service ceased. The entrances were in front of the present-day U. City post office and U. City library. Here's an old pic I found online that shows the entrances to the tunnel:
http://cdm16795.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ ... lmar/id/62

How cool is THAT!!!

mill204 · PostMay 06, 2015#622015-05-06T03:36+00:00

stlgasm wrote:There's an old pedestrian tunnel underneath Forest Park Parkway that connects Wellesley Avenue in University City to Westmoreland Avenue in Clayton. Pretty sure it was built primarily so pedestrians could cross Forest Park Parkway (formerly Millbrook Ave) safely without dodging streetcars, which turned from Millbrook onto Pershing Avenue.

Perhaps you are forgetting that before Forest Park Pkwy or Millbrook Ave was built, the right of way used to be a full fledged railroad with streetcars alongside?

stlgasm · PostMay 06, 2015#632015-05-06T03:47+00:00

^^Thanks for the history lesson. I think I knew that, but I'm clueless on the details.

framer · PostMay 06, 2015#642015-05-06T05:49+00:00

Good stuff, Gasm. I'm old enough to remember the tunnel under Chippewa connecting Famous Barr and their parking lot (complete with escalators!).

I wonder if some day Minneapolis will feel nostalgic for their skywalk system.

wabash · PostMay 06, 2015#652015-05-06T05:53+00:00

I've never been able to rectify how this:

Survived this:

It blows my mind that Metro would accommodate the Millbrook tunnel during the Blue LIne's construction. But they did, and it's awesome! We've got tunnels overlapping tunnels.

Here's the shot stlgasm linked to above + another one from the U. City Public Library:

stlgasm · PostMay 06, 2015#662015-05-06T10:24+00:00

Great finds, Wabash! Wow,I wish that Delmar tunnel still existed. There must be some trace of it, right? Was it just filled in or what? Perhaps it'll be unearthed during the Loop trolley construction...

wabash · PostJul 02, 2015#672015-07-02T06:00+00:00

Some random old shots of St. Louis transit:

framer · PostJul 02, 2015#682015-07-02T18:25+00:00

Another nice group; love the horse-drawn trolley.

moorlander · PostJul 08, 2015#692015-07-08T15:35+00:00

Very cool. Thanks Wabash.

wabash · PostJul 20, 2015#702015-07-20T01:59+00:00

A trip (perhaps the last) into the Illinois Terminal Railroad tunnel underneath Tucker. 10:30 - 14:58 shows the approach into Downtown and down toward the end of the tunnel.

I can't believe these tracks were still somewhat functional in 2002. I remember taking a walk down there around 2002-2003, and never would have guessed. This is the same tunnel that filled with a Hooverville/"Hopeville" of homeless encampments during the Great Recession. It's now filled in to support a rebuilt Tucker Blvd. Even after the Illinois Terminal Railroad shuttered, the Globe-Democrat and Post-Dispatch continued to use the tunnel to deliver newsprint to their printing presses.

framer · PostSep 04, 2015#712015-09-04T02:09+00:00

wabash wrote:I think I found it. You weren't kidding, it's both crazy and scary-looking. It was located at 4078 S. Broadway in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood.

A website with some back-story states that: "In a pictorial review of American railroad stations from 1831 to 1920, the author nominates Tucker’s station 'as the most unusual of all suburban stations.' A picture of the station was used in an advertisement for the American National Bank accompanying the picture were the statements - 'this must be the most unusual station ever built' and 'the south St. Louis bluff side station was unlike any other – before or since!'"

Here's another view:

JNOnSTL · PostSep 04, 2015#722015-09-04T15:10+00:00

Wabash - Not sure how I missed those photos you posted on 7/2, but great finds!

Just curious (to Wabash or anybody who can answer) - what streets did the Hodiamont line run on before hitting its ROW at the western end? Sadly, I can't recognize some of those streets in the pictures, even the ones that are obviously downtown. My best guess is it ran on Locust for a few blocks, and maybe MLK? So much has been torn down since then.

Thanks

stlhistory · PostSep 04, 2015#732015-09-04T22:50+00:00

^If you go to http://www.davidrumsey.com and search for "saint louis 1903" you will find what you seek.

wabash · PostSep 06, 2015#742015-09-06T17:49+00:00

JNOnSTL wrote:Just curious (to Wabash or anybody who can answer) - what streets did the Hodiamont line run on before hitting its ROW at the western end?

Interesting question. I'm not sure. Maybe this photo of the Hodiamont Streetcar (which I can't place) offers a clue. Can anyone figure out where this is?

Here's an interesting shot from 1963 looking east down Pine from 9th Street:

imran · PostSep 07, 2015#752015-09-07T01:45+00:00

My guess about the first photo is Olive with the streetcar heading east. The only recognizable landmark for me is the tiny spire in the distance which I believe is St Francis Xavier church at Grand.

St. Louis Transit Photos

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