View of St. Louis
(oil on canvas, Joe Jones, c. 1932)
Over the weekend we were visiting friends in St. Louis. Not much time for railfanning, but the St. Louis Art Museum is great. It suddenly struck me that the WPA painting above might depict the entrance to the Illinois Terminal subway under construction. If you've got a better idea, you too can be an art critic.
Nearby, there's no doubt that this new light rail streetcar line is under construction. One end terminates near the history museum (barely visible at right) and most of its length runs west on Delmar Avenue to Washington U. There is no evidence of a connection to the current Metro system, or anything else for that matter.
I'd say that somewhat more than half of the track construction is complete, with the rest in progress.
If and when this system is put into operation, we'll try to report on it.
1st photo: I agree it's the IT subway entrance (recently filled in). If you fire up the streetview at Cass & Hadley and stroll north on Hadley, you will see 2 IT catenary supports still there, apparently not doing anything useful. Perhaps a call to the St. Louis streets dept. and a road trip might get you a couple of rare additions to IRM's electric infrastructure (or maybe you already have some out in the boneyard?).
ReplyDelete3rd photo: Lucky shot. You got the site of the DeBaliviere Car Barn (now a bus facility) in the background.
Chuck Amstein