james
06-12-2001, 11:04 PM
Regarding The River Division and Crystal City........
I'm aware of only 2 roads that served Crystal, Missouri Pacific (predessor roads
Missisissippi River and Bonne Terre, Missouri Illinois) and Frisco. If you count the 3
switch engines and yard on PPG tracks you would have 3 railroads. MP timetables state
that MP "Operation is over PPG Co Tracks from Crystal Junction to SLSF interchange".
PPG did not venture out of their immediate plant area with their crews and power.
PPG was the major industry on the Frisco at Crystal City. It employeed over 3000
people at one time and was the largest plate glass factory in the U.S. at one point during
it's history. The plant received inbound raw materials of silica sand in Frisco-marked
covered hoppers from Ludwig (mine it owned and later sold to Martin Marietta). Soda
ash would come from other points, such as Wyoming in UP or private marked covered
hoppers. PPG also received rouge and emory in 70 ton Frisco-marked gondolas. This
material was used in the grinding and polishing process for finishing plate glass. The rouge
was a reddish-looking material and the emory was light grey. I'm guessing the plant had
around 10-15 miles of track between the fences, including the yard which was adjacent
to the Frisco yard in Crystal and separated by a high fence.
Frisco had a local that served PPG and other local industries on a daily basis. The local
would operate to Ludwig, River Cement, and US Agri Chemical south of Crystal. The
local would also take care of any interchange activity with MP, which was accomplished
at a small, 3-track yard behind Mississippi Ave in Crystal. Early power on this local were
black/yellow, red/white GP7's, later replaced by red/white GP38's. Switching was
accomplished at the Crystal yard and also at McCoy switch south of town. River
Cement is still in business and actively ships covered hoppers. US Agri Chemical (now
LaRoche) recently closed.
MoPac entered PPG across an interlocker immediately north of the old Frisco depot. A
concrete shanty and crossing gate protected the interlocker. I recall seeing MP 695000,
697000 series gondolas loaded with A-frame fixures that contained large pieces of
finished glass. Item: PPG at Crystal supplied all of exterior glass used on the Sears
Tower in Chicago. MoPac also had a circus-style ramp south of the depot that was
switched from the south and held around 5, 89' piggyback flats. Finished glass was
loaded into MP-marked trailers and loaded on the flatcars at the ramp. Other notable
structures in the yard area were a small substation around 50 yards from the depot and
horizontal fuel storage tanks that were located in the curve just before crossing the bridge
over Plattin Creek. Prior to the late 1970's, semaphore signals were on either side of the
main immediately north of the Frisco depot and a manual train order semaphore was
located next to the depot. A roadmaster's shanty is located north of the old depot and
used to house handcars.
The old Frisco depot was torn down in 1979 and the interlocker was removed during the
1980's. MP entered PPG off of the Frisco main after the interlocker was removed. The
sand mine at Ludwig closed in the mid-1980's and PPG was closed in 1991. All that
remains of the massive plant complex is a vacant field, the plant office, and plant hospital.
The piggyback ramp, storage tanks, and the substation are also gone. The yard is still
there and used to support local industry. A rip track is also located behind a pre-fab
building that replaced the original Frisco depot.
The Festus/Crystal City area has a rich history of rail business. PPG was the big player,
but smaller companies also received/shipped products via rail. Waggoner Store
Company and Robinson Lumber received inbound boxcars and flat cars of lumber:
Waggoner via its spur off the MP, and Robinson Lumber via the MP team track located
in back of the depot on Bailey Road. Both are now out of business. The team track is
still at Crystal, as is the wooden dock and the depot. The track itself looks to be out of
service. Shapiro Bros. receives retired railcars for dismantling and ships gondolas of
scrap to steel mills in the Midwest. UP or BNSF controlled 52' gondolas are used for the
scrap, retired cars move in on their own wheels or as wrecks on flatcars. Presently, this
is the most active shipper in area next to Ameren/UE Rush Island Power Plant south of
Crystal.
The only other industry in the area were oil jobbers: the tank storage facility at Crystal and
I believe one other in Festus located off of the spur in the UE facility. I don't have the
history of these facilities and how their materials were received/shipped.
Further south on the MP "main", McClay concrete received inbound loads of cement in
small covered hoppers. Jones Chemical received inbound shipments of chlorine in tank
cars. McClay (now Breckinridge Materials) no longer receives cement via rail. Jones still
receives tank cars of chlorine and is the only active shipper on the line which stubs south
of the plant at Howe. Jones can hold around 5 cars. Small, MP-marked covered
hoppers were used to ship cement to McClay and the track could hold around 3 cars.
On the Frisco, the city of Festus used to receive inbound Frisco-marked open top
hoppers of cinders during the winter and unload the cars into their city trucks. A spur
rack was located off Mill Street and the cars were discharged directly into the trucks via
an elevated pit. The pit was filled in a during the 1980's and the spur was pulled up.
Also in Festus, Union Electric had a spur track that was used for inbound shipments of
utility poles. The track sloped downward from the Frisco mainline and had a small bridge
over a creek prior to entering the UE property. UE is no longer located at this site and
the track and bridge are now gone.
I'm a native of Festus/Crystal City and a graduate of Crystal High School. I currently
work for UP in Omaha. I too plan to model the Crystal City area on my railroad and am
interested in any history, pictures, of the area and the operation of the MP and Frisco.
I'm aware of only 2 roads that served Crystal, Missouri Pacific (predessor roads
Missisissippi River and Bonne Terre, Missouri Illinois) and Frisco. If you count the 3
switch engines and yard on PPG tracks you would have 3 railroads. MP timetables state
that MP "Operation is over PPG Co Tracks from Crystal Junction to SLSF interchange".
PPG did not venture out of their immediate plant area with their crews and power.
PPG was the major industry on the Frisco at Crystal City. It employeed over 3000
people at one time and was the largest plate glass factory in the U.S. at one point during
it's history. The plant received inbound raw materials of silica sand in Frisco-marked
covered hoppers from Ludwig (mine it owned and later sold to Martin Marietta). Soda
ash would come from other points, such as Wyoming in UP or private marked covered
hoppers. PPG also received rouge and emory in 70 ton Frisco-marked gondolas. This
material was used in the grinding and polishing process for finishing plate glass. The rouge
was a reddish-looking material and the emory was light grey. I'm guessing the plant had
around 10-15 miles of track between the fences, including the yard which was adjacent
to the Frisco yard in Crystal and separated by a high fence.
Frisco had a local that served PPG and other local industries on a daily basis. The local
would operate to Ludwig, River Cement, and US Agri Chemical south of Crystal. The
local would also take care of any interchange activity with MP, which was accomplished
at a small, 3-track yard behind Mississippi Ave in Crystal. Early power on this local were
black/yellow, red/white GP7's, later replaced by red/white GP38's. Switching was
accomplished at the Crystal yard and also at McCoy switch south of town. River
Cement is still in business and actively ships covered hoppers. US Agri Chemical (now
LaRoche) recently closed.
MoPac entered PPG across an interlocker immediately north of the old Frisco depot. A
concrete shanty and crossing gate protected the interlocker. I recall seeing MP 695000,
697000 series gondolas loaded with A-frame fixures that contained large pieces of
finished glass. Item: PPG at Crystal supplied all of exterior glass used on the Sears
Tower in Chicago. MoPac also had a circus-style ramp south of the depot that was
switched from the south and held around 5, 89' piggyback flats. Finished glass was
loaded into MP-marked trailers and loaded on the flatcars at the ramp. Other notable
structures in the yard area were a small substation around 50 yards from the depot and
horizontal fuel storage tanks that were located in the curve just before crossing the bridge
over Plattin Creek. Prior to the late 1970's, semaphore signals were on either side of the
main immediately north of the Frisco depot and a manual train order semaphore was
located next to the depot. A roadmaster's shanty is located north of the old depot and
used to house handcars.
The old Frisco depot was torn down in 1979 and the interlocker was removed during the
1980's. MP entered PPG off of the Frisco main after the interlocker was removed. The
sand mine at Ludwig closed in the mid-1980's and PPG was closed in 1991. All that
remains of the massive plant complex is a vacant field, the plant office, and plant hospital.
The piggyback ramp, storage tanks, and the substation are also gone. The yard is still
there and used to support local industry. A rip track is also located behind a pre-fab
building that replaced the original Frisco depot.
The Festus/Crystal City area has a rich history of rail business. PPG was the big player,
but smaller companies also received/shipped products via rail. Waggoner Store
Company and Robinson Lumber received inbound boxcars and flat cars of lumber:
Waggoner via its spur off the MP, and Robinson Lumber via the MP team track located
in back of the depot on Bailey Road. Both are now out of business. The team track is
still at Crystal, as is the wooden dock and the depot. The track itself looks to be out of
service. Shapiro Bros. receives retired railcars for dismantling and ships gondolas of
scrap to steel mills in the Midwest. UP or BNSF controlled 52' gondolas are used for the
scrap, retired cars move in on their own wheels or as wrecks on flatcars. Presently, this
is the most active shipper in area next to Ameren/UE Rush Island Power Plant south of
Crystal.
The only other industry in the area were oil jobbers: the tank storage facility at Crystal and
I believe one other in Festus located off of the spur in the UE facility. I don't have the
history of these facilities and how their materials were received/shipped.
Further south on the MP "main", McClay concrete received inbound loads of cement in
small covered hoppers. Jones Chemical received inbound shipments of chlorine in tank
cars. McClay (now Breckinridge Materials) no longer receives cement via rail. Jones still
receives tank cars of chlorine and is the only active shipper on the line which stubs south
of the plant at Howe. Jones can hold around 5 cars. Small, MP-marked covered
hoppers were used to ship cement to McClay and the track could hold around 3 cars.
On the Frisco, the city of Festus used to receive inbound Frisco-marked open top
hoppers of cinders during the winter and unload the cars into their city trucks. A spur
rack was located off Mill Street and the cars were discharged directly into the trucks via
an elevated pit. The pit was filled in a during the 1980's and the spur was pulled up.
Also in Festus, Union Electric had a spur track that was used for inbound shipments of
utility poles. The track sloped downward from the Frisco mainline and had a small bridge
over a creek prior to entering the UE property. UE is no longer located at this site and
the track and bridge are now gone.
I'm a native of Festus/Crystal City and a graduate of Crystal High School. I currently
work for UP in Omaha. I too plan to model the Crystal City area on my railroad and am
interested in any history, pictures, of the area and the operation of the MP and Frisco.