Museum of Transportation Update

This past Saturday, I managed to find the time to head out to the Museum of Transportation for the day to help the other members of the Museum of Transportation Trolley Volunteers (MTTV) the group that maintains, operates, and restores the traction collection at the museum. It's winter, which means no operations, but winter inspections are in full-swing. CTA single number 44 just completed inspection last week and was not in the shop. I apologize for the lack of quality in the photos, I took them with my cell phone camera.

Here is a freshly rebuilt motor-generator set for our ex-Philly PCC number 2740. The original MG set failed in service last year, and it was deemed to be beyond economical repair. We purchased an extra from the group at Pike's Peak, Colorado and had it rebuilt by the local motor shop.


St. Louis Waterworks Railway number 10 was in the shop for its annual inspection. The brunt of the work happened the previous Thursday, the other day of the week MTTV volunteers are out at the museum. The work that remained for Saturday included replacing the ropes on the trolley poles, checking the trolley catchers, inspecting the controllers, and replacing some interior light bulbs in the car.

The latest restoration effort of the MTTV members is St. Louis Public Service number 1743. This car was part of the third and final order of PCC cars by SLPS. SLPS sold the car to MUNI in San Fransisco in 1957, where it operated until the early 1980s. The car ended up at East Troy, until the mid 1980s when members rescued it from the Phantom Woods carbarn. MUNI finally transferred ownership of the car to MOT about 18 months ago. Since then work has been going full-tilt on it. Like most PCC cars, the 1743 was prone to corrosion. It also had a lot of damage from years of rough service and "fender benders." Over the past year, a metalworker has rebuilt all of the wreck and most of the rust damage from the car.

Here we see the nearly-completed rear stepwell. Last year, this was mostly bondo and cardboard. We've removed the treadles, as SLPS never had them when in service.

We estimate that we have about another 2 years worth of work left on the car. Besides all of the body work, we've been ringing out the electrical system, replacing some missing components, and doing work to backdate the car to its SLPS appearance.

In other MOT volunteer news, serveral volunteers have been restoring a former Missouri Pacific round-end observation car. This project has been ongoing for several years now. The carbody is made of alumninum, and all of the old paint was stripped off. New MOPAC colors are going on one side. The interior also is very nice, but it was inacessable for photos.

Dave's Depots -- St. James, Missouri

This edition of Dave's Depots takes us to picturesque St. James, Missouri. St. James is a town in Phelps County, and is located approximately 80 miles southwest of St. Louis. The town sits along old Route 66 and Interstate 44. Located in the center of town is this structure, a wood depot built by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (better known as the Frisco). St. James sits on the Frisco's St. Louis-Springfield, MO mainline.
St. James is and was a center of Missouri's wine making industry, as the soil conditions are good for growing grapes. I'm sure many a crate of LCL wine passed through this depot's freight house. Today, the depot appears to be unused, but is in good condition. I am unsure of its ownership.

Love is....

For those of you who do not know, I am getting married on October 17. The ceremony and reception are being held in Rolla, Missouri, Katy's (my fiancé not the M-K-T) hometown. Rolla is located on the old Frisco St. Louis-Springfield mainline.

Frisco 1501, a USRA light 4-8-2 sits in a city park in Rolla. The locomotive is under cover, and in generally good shape. Months ago, I offhandedly remarked that a wedding photo or two near the locomotive would be neat, and thought nothing more of it. Katy did some legwork, and secured permission from the City of Rolla to have access to the locomotive for photos.

That is love!

Dave's Depots -- Lead Belt Edition, Bonne Terre, Missouri

Friday afternoon was shaping up to be a quiet one around the office, then an emergency hit. The powers-that-be needed a lawyer of my ability and skill to drive down to Farmington, Missouri to argue a motion before the Circuit Court of Saint Francois County. "My ability and skill" means I was the only attorney in the office wearing a suit that day. Wearing a suit and tie on a casual Friday sticks out like spats at an Iowa picnic, and is certainly one way to get noticed by the boss.

Saint Francois County is the heart of the old "Lead Belt," an area dotted by abandoned lead mines and the resulting waste. Other than that, the area is actually very beautiful, with tree-covered hills. The weather was nice, which made the drive fun. On the way back to town, I stopped in Bonne Terre, and snapped a photo of the Frisco Depot.

Bonne Terre was the heart of Missouri's Lead Belt, and the Frisco even ran a passenger train called the "Lead Belt Special." The depot is in good shape, owned by the proprietor or the local abandoned lead mine, which is open for tours. Part of the mine is flooded, and is quite a popular attraction for scuba divers in the midwest.

What Lies Beneath!

The other day, while walking on Lemp Avenue, near my new home, I noticed this, pictured to the right. Actually I noticed it because I nearly tripped over it while crossing the street. Yes, streetcar tracks still exist under the pavement in St. Louis. My St. Louis streetcar books are packed up, so I do not know what line this was, but it is very interesting, as it appears as if the street has been paved only once since the end of streetcar service.

As some of you may know, I'm in the process of moving prior to getting married next month. After law school, I elected to live in the suburbs, just over the city limits. I'm moving back to the city, in the Benton Park neighborhood of St. Louis. Benton Park is just south of downtown, and “up the bluff” from the Mississippi River. Benton Park is near the Anheuser-Busch brewery, and also down the street from the old Lemp Brewery. Lemp, before Prohibition, was the largest brewery in the United States.

The Lemp family also owned an interurban, the St. Louis, Columbia and Waterloo Railway, which ran from the top deck of the Eads Bridge all the way down to Waterloo in Monroe County, Illinois. The Lemp brewery did not survive Prohibition, and went out of business, failing to diversify as A-B did. The interurban line folded next. The Lemp family lived down the street from my new home in a mansion that still exists. The Lemp family was marked by several suicides, and the mansion is considered to be "haunted." The Lemp brewery facility still exists, being used for many purposes. It once had a cable railway to pull cars up the bluff from the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern (MOPAC) to the brewery.

Dave's Depots -- Saint Louis Union Station, Part II

One of the "advantages" of working for my law firm is that is you do not like the view outside your office window, just wait, chances are you will move. In the two years I have been working as an attorney, I have had offices on all four sides of the building, and on two different floors. My first office had a nice north view, where I could see the Merchants Bridge (Terminal Railroad Association) the McKinley Bridge (Illinois Terminal) and on a clear day all they way to Chain of Rocks and even Alton. This office was replaced by a south view where I could only see into the judge’s chambers in the Federal courthouse next door (where I once saw a judge sleeping on his couch). My last office had a good view of the Alton and Southern yard in East St. Louis, and a “good” view of East St. Louis.

The man I worked for recently made partner, and was thus given the requisite partner-sized office. This move necessitated my move from the east to the west side of the building.

The good news is that I have a great view from my new office, including a view of Union Station, the tarin shed and the rail yards in the Mill Creek Valley. As you can see from the photo, the Union Station train shed is very large. You could actually fit the new Amtrak station (which is also very nice) inside the train shed without any problem. An added bonus of the new location is that I can also watch trains on the Metrolink Light Rail system pass by, and view some of the new car wraps Metro is experimenting with. Of course, all of this watching out the window may mean a decrease in my productivity....

Dave's Depots - Rock Island Depot, Gerald, Missouri

Recently my travels took me through Franklin County, Missouri. U.S. 50 through most of Franklin County parallels the old Rock Island St. Louis-Kansas City mainline. The line is still in place, but "rail banked" and owned by the State of Missouri. A portion of the line from the old Rock Island Page Avenue Yard in St. Louis to the town of Union, Missouri is operated by the Central Midland Railway.

The town of Gerald is just west of Union. Just west of downtown, in a park, sits the old Rock Island Depot. The depot is in excellent shape, maintained by the local Chamber of Commerce. Signage at the depot indicates that it was moved from downtown to the park in the mid 1980s and is the only remaining depot on the line. While not on the old Rock Island anymore, the depot remains just across U.S. 50 from the old mainline.

As for the Rock Island line, there has been on and off talk the past several years about reopening the entire line. It is unclear if and when this would ever happen.

Dave's Depots - Barrett's Station, Missouri

Today's installment of "Dave's Depots" takes us close to my home. When the Pacific Railroad of Missouri constructed its line west from St. Louis in the 1850s, just west of present day Kirkwood, the construction engineers encountered two hills too large to go around and too steep to go over. The solution was to construct a pair of tunnels. The tunnels were carved out of the hills using hand tools and black powder-based explosives. (This was before Mr. Nobel invented Dynamite). The tunnels became the first railroad tunnels west of the Mississippi River.

In the 1940s, the Missouri Pacific moved the mainline several hundred feet to the south, in order to lay double track through the area. The railroad simply picked up and moved the depot to its present site as well. Later, after World War II, the Museum of Transportation located at the site, and the depot was the museum’s first office, gift shop, and shop area.

The depot remained an active stop until the 1950s, as the area was a stop on the MOPAC's commuter service from Pacific, MO to St. Louis.

The original mainline grade was later used by MOT for the present day demonstration streetcar line. The tunnels remain off-limits, largely due to some past stability issues.
The present pattern of development at MOT has made the depot inaccessible to the public. It sits in the middle of the shop materials yard. The depot is in good shape, and is presently used as the museum's wood shop. (Photo Credit: Frank Hicks)