Trackage In Missouri
St. Louis had the largest Union Station in the country, with 32 station tracks. It is thus convenient to organize this description according to state, with a few cross references as necessary. Much of the trackage in the St. Louis area, including Union Station, was operated by Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, jointly owned by all of the area railroads. Union Station was closed in 1978, with new temporary and now permanent stations constructed on the main line east of the old wye tracks. Trains operating west of St. Louis generally left TRRA trackage at Grand Avenue. The Missouri Pacific main line extended west to Kansas City and points beyond, while MP's De Soto Subdivision extended south towards Little Rock and points in Texas. Iron Mountain Jct. had been the junction between these two lines. Amtrak continues to operate over both of these lines. Although beginning in 1990, De Soto Subdivision trains began using the former St. Louis San Francisco line between Grand Avenue and Iron Mountain Jct. Previously, the De Soto Subdivision had crossed the SLSF line at Iron Mountain Jct. The St. Louis San Francisco main line extended southwest to Springfield MO, Tulsa and Oklahoma City, while SLSF's River line extended south to Memphis. The Wabash Moberly Division main line extended west to Kansas City and other points. Along the Moberly Division line was Delmar, which was a neighborhood station in St. Louis which was also served by Wabash Decatur Division trains operating into Illinois. At Page Avenue Jct., Decatur Division trains diverged east from the Moberly Division, joining TRRA trackage at Easton Avenue (now Martin Luther King Dr.) These trains continued into Illinois via the Merchants Bridge. Trains operating north and northwest of St. Louis proceeded east of Union Station, then turned north and passed through a tunnel where the Gateway Arch is now located. These trains included Burlington Route trains operating north towards Hannibal, along with Missouri Kansas Texas trains towards Oklahoma City which used Burlington trackage rights. Also operating in this direction were Rock Island trains to Kansas City. And in this direction was Merchants Bridge, the most northerly of the St. Louis Mississippi River crossings into Illinois.
Significant Locations and Distances from Station
Tower 1 - south of Union Station.
Tower 2 - southwest of Union Station.
Tower 3 - southeast of Union Station, junction with TRRA Eads Bridge route.
Grand Avenue (2 miles W) - west end TRRA, connect with WAB, MP, SLSF.
Iron Mountain Jct. (3 miles W) - junction of MP main line, De Soto Subdivision.
SE Jct. (7 miles SW) - junction of SLSF main line, River line.
Gratiot Street (1 mile E) - junction with MacArthur Bridge route.
North Market (3 miles N) - junction with CB&Q Hannibal line.
Machens (26 miles N) - junction of CB&Q Hannibal line, MKT with trackage rights.
West Approach (5 miles N) - junction of TRRA Merchants Bridge route, West Belt.
Easton Avenue (7 miles NW) - junction of TRRA West Belt, Wabash connection.
Page Ave. Jct. (7 miles NW) - junction of Wabash Moberly Division, TRRA connection.
Rock Island Jct. (15 miles NW) - northwest end TRRA, connect with CRI&P.
Trackage In Illinois
St. Louis had the largest Union Station in the country, with 32 station tracks. It is thus convenient to organize this description according to state, with a few cross references as necessary. Much of the trackage in the St. Louis area, including Union Station, was operated by Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, jointly owned by all of the area railroads. East of Union Station, direct connections were available into Illinois via the Eads Bridge and the MacArthur Bridge. The MacArthur Bridge was owned by the City of St. Louis, which charged tolls for its use, causing railroads to prefer the Eads Bridge for trains operating in that direction. Although in 1989, the City "traded" the MacArthur Bridge to TRRA for the Eads Bridge, which is now used by the Metrolink light rail line. And Amtrak trains to Chicago now indeed normally use the MacArthur Bridge, now free of tolls. East of Eads Bridge was Relay Depot, where TRRA connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad main line east to Indianapolis, the Baltimore & Ohio main line east to Cincinnati, the Southern Railway line east to Louisville, and the Louisville & Nashville line southeast to Evansville. Amtrak operated over the PRR line until 1979, and service operated via SR between 1984 and 1993. At the time, some Alton & Southern trackage may have been used to reach the SR line, though this is not clear. Also connecting at Relay Depot was Illinois Terminal, over which Illinois Central Springfield District trains northeast towards Chicago used trackage rights as far as L&M Jct. IC continued via trackage rights over Chicago & North Western to Glen, where the IC trackage began. South of Relay Depot were connections with IC's St. Louis District, the original Gulf Mobile & Ohio route south, and Missouri Pacific's Chester Subdivision. IC's St. Louis District connected at Du Quoin with the IC main line south to Memphis and New Orleans, the GM&O line extended south to Mobile and New Orleans, and MP's Chester Subdivision connected with various points in southern Illinois. St. Louis Southwestern towards Dallas had trackage rights over the Chester Subdivision as far as Illmo Proceeding north of Relay Depot was the Alton Route and New York Central paired track to East Alton. Alton Route, acquired in 1947 by Gulf Mobile & Ohio, had the southbound track, while NYC had the northbound track. In the past, the paired track was more often reached from TRRA via the Merchants Bridge, with the TRRA trackage joining the paired track at WR Tower. The paired track ended at East Alton, where the railroads originally separated. The Alton Route line continued north to Chicago, while the New York Central line continued east to Indianapolis. Amtrak continues to operate over the Alton Route line. In 1881, Alton Route constructed its more direct "cutoff" through Alton, between Wann and Godfrey and east of the original route. And in 1904, the more direct NYC route was completed to Hillsboro, diverging east at Lenox. Chicago & Eastern Illinois had trackage rights over NYC to Pana, where its own line diverged northeast to Chicago. And Burlington Route had trackage rights over the paired track to East Alton, where its own line continued north to Beardstown and points beyond. Paralleling the paired track from WR Tower to Lenox was the Wabash Decatur Division towards Detroit and Chicago. Those trains stopped at the Delmar neighborhood station in St. Louis, along the Wabash Moberly Division, before connecting with the TRRA route crossing Merchants Bridge. Finally, also crossing Merchants Bridge were Nickel Plate trains towards Cleveland. Those trains would use the TRRA Eastern Connection from SH Tower to MB Connection, before entering NKP trackage.
Significant Locations and Distances from Station
Illmo (130 miles S) - junction with MP Chester Subdivision, SSW with trackage rights.
North Dupo (10 miles SE) - south end TRRA, connect with MP Chester Subdivision.
M&O Jct. (4 miles SE) - junction with IC St. Louis District, GM&O.
Q Tower (3 miles E) - junction with MacArthur Bridge route.
Relay Depot (3 miles E) - junction with C&A/NYC, IT (IC), PRR, B&O, L&N, SR.
L&M Jct. (7 miles E) - junction of IT, C&NW with IC trackage rights.
Glen (17 miles NE) - junction of C&NW, IC Springfield District with trackage rights.
SH Tower (6 miles NE) - junction with TRRA Merchants Bridge, Eastern Connection.
MB Connection (7 miles NE) - northeast end TRRA, connect with NKP.
WR Tower (8 miles NE) - northwest end TRRA, connect with WAB, C&A/NYC.
Lenox (13 miles NE) - junction of C&A/NYC with NYC/C&EI.
Wann (21 miles NE) - junction of C&A main line (cutoff) with NYC East Alton line.
East Alton (22 miles NE) - junction of NYC with CB&Q East St. Louis line.
Godfrey (22 miles NE) - junction of C&A old main line with cutoff.
Pana (82 miles NE) - junction of NYC main line, C&EI with trackage rights.