Here are the last of the Frisco locomotive shots Kurt and I took while on our perch at the top end of the pedestrian bridge at Lindenwood Yard in St Louis in March, 1979. These shots are a bit dark as it was late in the day, and we were looking into a bright western sky. Most of the Frisco power we photographed that day were switchers that came by the bridge - NW2's, SW7's, SW9's and SW1500's. These are the pics I have posted over the past few days - at least all the shots that are remotely decent. Late in the day, however, two road trains appeared - one coming into Lindenwood, the second departing. I don't recall which came by first, but we stayed on the bridge to photograph both sets of road power before we went home. Both trains had three units on the point. It is interesting to see the consists. First the inbound - I don't recall if it came in from the Eastern Division or the River Division. o On the point, EMD GP38-2, SLSF 474 o Second unit, EMD GP35, SLSF 721 o Third unit, GE U30b, SLSF 857 And, next the outbound train - I also don't recall if it headed down the Eastern to Springfield or down the River to Memphis. o On the point, EMD GP38-2, SLSF 675 o Second unit, EMD GP38-2, SLSF 684 o Third unit, EMD GP38-2, SLSF 430 I'll wager the outbound was headed down the River Division - it had three GP38-2's, 6000 HP. Normally, an Eastern Division train had more power than that as there are far more grades to climb on the line to/from Springfield than on the line to/from Memphis. The inbound train had 7500 HP available from its three units, so I'll bet it came up the Eastern. Just my guess as to their routings - 31 years after we saw them! Also note the Weems favorite Lindenwood telephone poles are again much in evidence! Ken
Regarding where the outbound train was headed, I would agree that the River Division was more likely. Out of Lindenwood, until MP T-14, the greatest grade encountered was 1.08%. Once past T-14, the grade was generally downhill with a few 1.00% grades up/down until truly in the Mississippi River bottoms were the grades mostly were in 0.0x% range with a few running up to about 0.10%. Not until the Mississippi River Bridge at Memphis (1.30%) would that train see any real grade.
I waffle between siding with Sherrel on wanting a clear view of the locomotives, and then thinking that those poles are one of those perfect examples of a photographic obstruction that are a gem to model when trying to create realistic model scenes. Keith and Ken, I enjoyed the breakdown and rationalization of why they're plausibly River Division trains. As a kid, I may have very well either watched this train from my front door (where I had a clear view to the old passenger depot in Chaffee) or while waiting to cross into town at Yoakum Avenue. All locomotives seemed to look alike to me back then; it's neat to see them when I'm older but only slightly more educated on the diesels. Thanks very much for sharing, Ken.
There wasn't much we could do about those telephone poles. The pedestrian bridge was only a couple of yards wide and they didn't allow you to come down off of it, especially with a child. The yard office was just to the right of the bridge steps and blocked the view in that direction. The only way to get a side view of the locomotives at that location was to accept the poles being there. Plus, and more importantly, I only had a cheap camera back then, with no ability to change its settings, and had no idea how to take a good photo other than to point and shoot. Even with a good camera today, I'm still not much better - I'm just not into photography that much. I wonder if those two poles are still there? Next time we go by the yard on I-44 I'll take a look. The yard office is gone - replaced by another smaller structure. Ken
Chris, You must be reading my mind. As I was admiring the photos last evening, I was thinking that very same thing. I seem to remember a model photo of Don or Ken (I believe) of a class 4000 mike rounding a curve that had telephone poles next to the right-o-way. That really added realism to the scene. I actually felt that I was standing track side as the train rumbled by!
Long, lost brother! The bulk of the "photography" I tried in the 80s and 90s was with a flea market 35mm camera that was not easy to focus. Most of the photographs were somewhere between poor and downright morally repugnant, but as they say "even a blind squirrel can find an acorn sometime." I had a few salvageable pictures. Frankly, the best photo I ever took with it was of a B-17 at a Cape Girardeau Air Show. I used to curse my poor skills and the fact that adjacent "scenery" always crept into my photos. Then I read Paul Dolkos' article in the '96(?) Model Railroad Planning on how to make trains appear/disappear from staging more realistically, and then my paradigm shifted quite dramatically. Best Regards,
