Ken or Keith - Can you make out the number of the RPO that was riding behind 2021 on the Sunnyland in Ken's pics? Ken
Re: "Shops" area of Cape Girardeau Ken, Keith--On further review 206 does look like a better match. My photo of MW 105645 (Which is ex-206) has the same replaced roof vent as the car at Cape Girardeau. Tom
It looks like the old Mo. Dry Dock welding shop mentioned by Ken McElreath and included in the following photo is no more: http://www.capecentralhigh.com/cape-photos/cape-downtown/mo-dry-dock-building-gone/ Here it is in an earlier thread, along with a photo of GE Switcher #5: http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?attachments/16930-jpg.698/ http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?attachments/img_2321-jpg.8007/ Best Regards,
Chris, the process of tearing down the old Missouri Dry Dock and Repair machine shop began in March, 2011 and was complete by the late April. It too, succumbed to the wrecking ball like Morrison Ice and Fuel this year. I am sad that the old machine shop is gone. I have happy memories of entering the shop with my grandfather, Elmer Robinson, and visting with one of the machinists there, Brian Hassel of Paducah, Kentucky. Mr. Hassel introduced our family to trout fishing in Yellowstone National Park. I haven’t been able to track down the date when that building was built but it was sometime between 1931 and 1940.
Re: Rush Island unit coal train The fine folks at the Southeast Missourian have dug into their archives to provide us access to aerials of the industries along the tracks in Cape. Thanks to Sharon Sanders, Librarian; and Fred Lynch, Photographer for posting them to their Special Orders page for anyone to purchase. Links direct to the two folders: http://semissourian.mycapture.com/m...vent=1346042&CategoryID=29765&ListSubAlbums=0 http://semissourian.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1368145&CategoryID=29765 The pictures posted are a small representative sample, not a complete compendium of what they have. I spent some time with Sharon, selecting specific photos that I was interested in. There are many more available to those with specific interest.
One picture I have that I seem to have missed posting is one of two GP7s, 518 and 592, headed southbound with caboose #86 at Trail of Tears Park, north of Cape. The picture was taken about 1963, probably on a Sunday, since Sundays were when the family would go for a ride and end up with a picnic lunch somewhere. This is one of those occasions that my dad saw something unusual, grabbed his camera and snapped a quick shot. Note that all of the train crew are in the cabs of the locos and no one is riding in the caboose. This is most likely the southbound local #833 with no traffic from Lindenwood to Chaffee after running #834 north the day before.
Somehow I missed posting this picture of RS-1 #111 at Cape Girardeau that was taken by Ken McElreath in 1963. The aerial photo indicates where the engine shed and #111 were.
Keith, all of these are great pictures. I've not seen the aerial one of the engine house. Do you know the two industries just to the west? One looks to be a bulk oil terminal; the one just to the north with the conveyor escapes my memory or any of my notes. Best Regards,
Chris, the business on the corner was McDonald Concrete before they moved out onto Broadview. Later, Standley Bin and Conveyor was on that southeast corner of Aquamsi. The bulk oil dealer just south of McDonald Concrete is the Phillips Petroleum Company bulk plant. I believe the propane tanks are spill-over from the Uregas distributor that is out of picture to the northwest. The bulk oil dealer across the street to the north is the Conoco dealer, and of course, American White Cross is the large building to the north. Note: if you follow the tracks to the northeast, there's a stub end siding southward that has a hopper dump trestle.
This is not directly Cape Girardeau related, but in the region of the Commerce Branch. I found an old letter written to me by my (now deceased) cousin. She gave me the following information from her father, my great-uncle, concerning the Thebes river crossing. My comments are in parentheses. "Thebes was originally called 'Sparhawk Landing,' after the Sparhawk brothers who ran the Mississippi River ferry at Thebes. At one time Thebes had three train depots (likely IC, MP and C&EI), a movie theater, six or eight taverns, a hotel and several stores. (The C&EI depot survives as a residence today.) A powder factory town south of Thebes was called Fayville during WWI but before that it was called Santa Fe." "On the Missouri side of the river, the ferry landing was called Grayville. When the Thebes bridge was built, the depot (SSW/MP) was moved to Illmo, then the stores left and it's now called Gray's Point." Ken McElreath
THEBES DEPOTS (Left to right starting at top) Photo 1 is the west side of the IC depot, photo 2 is the SIMBCO (Southern Illinois and Missouri Bridge Company) depot at the east bridge approach, photo 3 is the Thebes Hotel, photo 4 is the IC depot looking north, photo 5 is the C&EI depot looking west and photo 6 is the Cotton Belt depot at Graysboro.
Here is a photo I took at Thebes of all that was left in the early 1980's. This was the C&EI depot looking north. It's all gone now.....The whole town of Fayville mentioned by Ken was literaly blown to bits when the gunpowder factory blew up. You can still see the foundations though on google earth.
Ken - I, for one, really appreciated seeing this information. If one looks at the fact that the Yoakum Empire included the Frisco and C&EI, then I think it's relevant. Considering that timetables of the early 1900s showed Cape Girardeau/Chaffee passenger service to Chicago via Thebes, and that the evidence seems to point to completion of the Thebes bridge as the impetus behind a new Cape & River Division terminal (Chaffee), it's all quite relevant. Best Regards,
Saw this scene on my way to work Thursday morning. It's cool that stern wheeler riverboats are still docking at Cape Girardeau.
The train in the stub track on the river side of the depot is either the daily train to Poplar Bluff or Commerce, waiting for a southbound connection. Ken Mc elreath