As part of the Amtrak Million Mile trip, we put together a visit to Kirkwood to visit the National Museum of Transportation and to ride the entire St. Louis MetroLink Light Rail. Joining me would be Ray Ivy driving the van, Chris Parker, Jeff Hartmann, Larry Boerio, Winston Walker and his daughter Christ, Larry from La Plata, Mr. and Mrs. Starkey and Bob McMillan.
We woke up to the sound of thunder and flashes of lightning but at 6:45 AM, we started south on US Highway 63 through the pouring rain in a Chevrolet van.
It rained all the way down to Interstate 70, which we took east, and the rain let up just before we stopped at the Wright City rest area. We continued into the St. Louis Metro area where we turned south onto Interstate 170 to Exit 8, taking that to our first destination of the day.
National Museum of TransportationThe National Museum of Transportation is a private, 42-acre transportation museum in the Kirkwood suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1944, it restores, preserves and displays a wide variety of vehicles spanning 15 decades of American history: cars, boats, aircraft and in particular, locomotives and railroad equipment from around the United States. The museum is also home to a research library of transportation-related memorabilia and documents. At the southwest corner of the property is West Barretts Tunnel. Built in 1853, it is one of a pair of tunnels that were the first to operate west of the Mississippi River. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The museum has its own railway spur to an active main line formerly owned by the Missouri Pacific Railroad, now by the Union Pacific Railroad. This has allowed the museum to take possession of large and unusual pieces of railroad equipment. A miniature railroad operates around a loop of track near the parking lot and a full-sized restored trolley operates Thursday–Sunday from April through October.
The Museum was founded in 1944 by a group of historically-minded citizens who had acquired the mule-drawn streetcar "Bellefontaine". In 1948, the Transport Museum Association incorporated as a non-profit educational organization to better serve the financial and volunteer needs of the Museum. Land was acquired on Barrett Station in St. Louis County, along the right-of-way of the historic Missouri Pacific Railroad, and over the years, the mule-drawn streetcar was joined by hundreds of other significant exhibits. On September 1, 1979, the St. Louis County Department of Parks and Recreation formally assumed the operation and development of the Museum, accepting it as a gift from the original founders in February 1984.
Since we had eleven people in our group, we received the group rate and I asked everyone to be back before noon. Each went off on their own and I started to explore this unique museum on my second visit.
Milwaukee Road American Refrigerator Transit 52461 built by the railroad in 1929 and Burlington Northern extended vision caboose 10032, nee Northern Pacific 10401, built by Pacific Car and Foundry in 1969.
Georgia Railroad 0-6-0 724, nee Georgia Railroad 49 built by Baldwin in 1896.
Missouri Pacific caboose 13899 built by the railroad in 1980.
United States Army gas turbine 1149 built by Davenport in 1952.
Milwaukee Road Bi-Polar E2 built by General Electric in 1920.
Illinois Terminal Boxcab Class B 1575 built by Illinois Traction System in 1918.
New York Central Class S2 electric locomotive 113 built by American Locomotive Company and General Electric in 1906.
Joplin Missouri Pittsburgh Kansas Plymouth 2003 built by the company in 1936.
Baltimore & Ohio AA 50 built by Electro-Motive Divison in 1935.
Sabine River & Northern Model NC 408 built by Electro-Motive Corporation in 1937.
Frisco 2-10-0 Decapod 1621 built by Baldwin in 1918 for Imperial Russian State Railways. It became United States Railroad Administration 1195 and was sold to Southern Railway System 8029 then transferred to Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway Company 8029. In 1920 it was sold to Fort Smith, Subiaco & Rock Island Railway Company 101 at Paris, Arkansas and five years later, transferred to St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company 1621 then sold in 1951 to the Eagle- Picher Company 1621 at Cardin, Oklahoma.
Chicago & Illinois Midland 2-8-2 551 built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1928.
Chicago Burlington & Quincy shovel nose AA 9908 "Silver Charger" built by Electro-Motive Division in 1939.
Duluth, Missabe & Northern 2-10-2 502 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1916.
Erie Lackawanna SD45 3607 built by Electro-Motive Divison in 1967.
Norfolk and Western Y6 2-8-8-2 2156 built by the railway in 1942.
Santa Fe Texas 2-10-4 5011 built by Baldwin in 1944.
Chesapeake and Ohio 2-8-4 2727 built by American Locomotive Company in 1944.
New York, Chicago and St Louis (Nickel Plate) 4-6-4 170 built by Alco-Brooks in 1927.
Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 4006 built by American Locomotive Company in 1941.
Union Pacific Rotary Snow Plow 900081 built by the railroad in 1966.
Missouri Pacific 4-6-0 2707 built by Baldwin in 1889 as St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company 635.
Chesapeake and Ohio 2-8-4 2727 built by American Locomotive Company in 1944 and General Motors FTA 103 built by Electro-Motive Divison in 1939.
Three steam engines are in this photograph: a) Chicago Charles H. Lake Street Elevated Railroad 0-4-0T 9 built by Forney in 1893, b) Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Camelback 4-4-0 952 built by American Locomotive Company in 1905 and c) Boston and Providence 4-4-0 17 "Daniel Nason".
Boston & Providence 4-4-0 "Daniel Nason" built by the railroad in 1863. It is the oldest locomotive in the collection and joined the Old Colony Railroad Company as 170 in 1888, when the latter took a 99 year lease on the B&P. The New York, New Haven & Hartford took over the lease in 1893 and, in 1905, 170 was leased to Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana. In 1951, it was sold to John Leahy of Danbury, Connecticut, and then in 1982, donated to the museum.
Frisco Mountain 4-8-2 1522, built by Baldwin in 1926. I rode behind this engine twice at the 2001 National Railway Historical Society convention.
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy E8 9939A built by Electro-Motive Division in 1950.
Southern Pacific GS-6 4-8-4 4460 built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1943.
NNew York Central Mohawk 4-8-2 2933, nee Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway 6233 built by American Locomotive Company in 1929.
Arkansas and Missouri RS-1 22 built by American Locomotive Company in 1943.
Terminal Railroad Association 0-8-0 318 built by the railroad in 1926.
Illinois Central 2-8-0 764 built by American Locomotive Company in 1904.
Minneapolis & St Louis RS-1 546 built by American Locomotive Company in 1946, which bought thirty-five RS-1s between 1944 and 1951. This particular locomotiv worked at the Burning Star No. 2 Mine and Kellogg Dock, Illinoi before being acquired by CONSOL's Truax-Traer Coal Division in the mid-1960's. It was donated to the museum in 1997.
Illinois Terminal interurban car 410 built by St. Louis Car Company in 1924 and Chicago Transit Authority 44, built by St. Louis Car Company in 1959 with recycled parts from retired Chicago PCC streetcars. It ran mostly on the Evanston line (today's Purple Line) until 1993, and came to the museum in 1998.
Manufacturers Railway RS-2 211 built by American Locomotive Company in 1948.
Union Pacific DD40AX 6944 built by Electro-Motive Divison in 1971.
United States Army SW-8 2002 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1952.
American Steel Foundries Granite City 65 ton switcher 8 built by Whitcomb Locomotive Works in 1948.
Alton & Southern 0-8-0 12 built by American Locomotive Company in 1926.
United States Army MRS-1 B-2069 built by American Locomotive Company and General Electric in 1953.
The Union Pacific main line behind the museum.
An overview of the engines one sees as when entering the museum's parking lot.
Illinois Terminal box motor 1595 built by the railroad in 1925.
Canadian National Pacific 4-6-2 5529 built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1905.
The Rock Island Aerotrain 3 built by General Motors in 1955.
Wabash Railroad 2-6-0 573 built by Rhode Island Locomotive Works in 1899.
Canadian Pacific RDC 54 built by Budd in 1954.
Scullin Steel 0-6-0 95, nee St. Louis-San Francisco 0-6-0 3695 built by Baldwin in 1906. It was sold to the Scullin Steel Company in 1937 and renumbered 95 (the characteristic "coon skin" Frisco number plate is still evident). It worked in Scullin Steel's south western St. Louis foundry and rolling mill until donated to the museum in 1956. The Scullin Steel Company ceased operations in 1981.
Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad American 4-4-0 311 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1890.
A look at the engines under cover at the west end of the open air building.
Pennsylvania Railroad P5 2-C2 Electric Locomotive 4700 built by the railroad in 1931.
The West Barrretts Tunnel, the first railroad tunnel west of the Mississippi River.
Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1 4918 built by General Electric, Baldwin Locomotive Works and the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1942. Amtrak acquired the locomotive in 1971 and renumbered it 4916.
Reading Railroad 2-2-2T "Black Diamond" built by Burnham, Parry, Williams & Company (a Baldwin predecessor) in 1889 for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.
Baltimore & Ohio 4-6-0 Camelback 173, nee Baltimore and Ohio 373 built by the railroad in 1873. The first 0-8-0 camelbacks were designed for the B&O by Ross Winans, an independent locomotive builder. The 4-6-0 improved on earlier 0-6-0 B&O camel backs by adding a four wheel leading truck, which improved running stability, and they continued in production into the 1870's.
Built for freight service, this locomotive was renumbered 173 in 1884. In 1901, the B&O donated the locomotive to Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, who then donated it to the museum in 1951.
Baltimore & Ohio Oil Electic Locomotive 1 built by American Locomotive Company, General Electric Company & Ingersoll Rand in 1925.
Conrail GP7 5677, nee Central of New Jersey 1521, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1952.
Earl C. Lindburg Automobile Center
I will take you on a tour through this part of the National Museum of Transportation.
Next I went upstairs.
Among all these automobile displays, guess what else I found?
In two cases were a locomotive and passenger car model. I went out to the parking lot to see what else I had not seen yet.
The locomotive line-up.
The H.T. Pott was the first Missouri River towboat with a welded steel hull instead of a riveted hull built by St. Louis Shipyard and Steel Company in 1933. The vessel operated out of Kansas City, Missouri on the Missouri River. It is named for Herman T. Pott (1895-1982), a distinguished river transportation executive and entrepreneur. The groups of barges that are moved on the nation's rivers are called "tows". The boats that propel the barges are "towboats" even though they push the barges from the back instead of pulling them. The H.T. Pott is 58 feet long and 15 feet wide and it has a "draft" the amount of the hull below the water line of 6 feet.
Also in this photograph is U.S. Army Air Force Douglas Aircraft C-47A "Gooney Bird" N 3-15635 built by Douglas Aircraft Company in 1943. This twin-engine aircraft, the military version of the DC-3, is thought to have been used by the United States Army Air Force in the World War II to resupply troops the day after the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. It is painted in camouflage with invasion stripes, which were placed on Allied aircraft used on D-Day to identify them so they would not be subject to friendly fire. The plane was agile and dependable, and could land and take off on comparatively short air fields. It earned the nickname "Gooney Bird" because its large, lumbering image mirrored that of the giant albatross birds, known for their endurance and ability to fly great distances, found on Midway Island in the Pacific. After the war, this plane was used in commercial passenger service in Nevada until it was reacquired by the military for use by the 131st Tactical Fighter Group of the Missouri Air National Guard for 22 years. Thus this C-47A is a World War II veteran, that towed gliders and delivered troops, equipment, and supplies to the 82nd Airborne Division just after dawn on the day after D-Day. Operation Hackensack took place on June 7, 1944, and pilot Martin Platt flew the U.S. Army Air Force Douglas Aircraft C-47A #N 3-15635 to support the Allied Forces.
Laclede-Christy Clay Products Company narrow gauge 0-4-0T 2 built by Davenport in 1907.
United States Mule 662 Panama Canal built by General Electric in 1914.
I returned to the gift shop and passed out my business cards to the two employees then went back out to the van where Ray and I went over our plan for the next event. The group started to filter back and then a downpour of rain took place. After everyone had returned, we departe for our ride over the entire St. Louis MetroLink Light Rail system.
MetroLink Light RailMetroLink is a light rail system that serves the Greater St. Louis area and is operated by Metro Transit in a shared fare system with MetroBus. The two-line, 38-station system runs from St. Louis Lambert International Airport and Shrewsbury in Missouri to Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. Intermediate destinations include downtown Clayton, Forest Park and downtown St. Louis. It is the only U.S. light rail system to cross state lines and shares some characteristics of a light metro or rapid transit service, including a completely independent right-of-way, a higher top speed and level boarding at all platforms.
The 1874-built Eads Bridge carries MetroLink across the Mississippi River between Missouri and Illinois on its lower-level rail deck. Construction on the initial MetroLink alignment from St. Louis Lambert International Airport to the 5th & Missouri station in East St. Louis began in 1990. The first 13.9 mile segment with 16 stations opened on July 31, 1993 between the North Hanley and 5th & Missouri stations and initially operated with 31 high-floor vehicles. The remainder of this initial 17 mile alignment was completed on June 25, 1994, when the extension to Lambert Airport Main opened.
MetroLink operates 87 Siemens SD-400 and SD-460 light rail vehicles. Each 90 foot-long, single articulated vehicle has four high platform doors per side and can hold 72 seated and 106 standing passengers. The cars are powered by an electric motor which gets its electricity from an overhead line with a 750 V DC supply. Each car has an enclosed operator cab at each end which is the most flexible for operations but prevents travel between cars. Each car has separate doors for boarding at station level and track level; in normal operations, the track-level doors (equipped with stairs) are unused.
Ray drove us to the Shrewsbury Lansdowne I-44 station where we all bought our day passes then went up to trackside to a waiting train.
Our first train at the Lansdowne I-44 station.
Our group aboard the train. We departed and for me, this was a new part of the system, having ridden the original line during the 2001 National Railway Historical Society convention. Our first stop was at Sunnen followed by Maplewood-Manchester, Brentwood I-64, Richmond Heights, Clayton, Forsyth, University City-Big Bend and then Skinker, before we joined the original route just before the Forest Park-DeBaliviere Ssation. The others were taking pictures of this new route for me so I was able to sit back and enjoy the views from my new mileage.
I suggested we change trains at East Riverfront which was agreeable to everyone. As we travelled through downtown St. Louis, I noticed many changes over the last seven years including a new Amtrak Station and a new Busch Stadium for the St. Louis Cardinals. We then entered the tunnel under downtown that would take us to the Eads Bridge.
The Gateway Arch from the Laclede's Landing station before we crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois, where we detrained at the East Riverfront station.
The Gateway Arch from the East Riverfront station.
Our train departing, bound for for Emerson Park.
Our next train for the Shiloh-Scott station, the east end of the line, arrived and we boarded and rode to Shiloh-Scott station as it lightly rained.
At the eastern terminus, we switched to the forward car and soon were off to Lambert Airport. I asked Ray to meet us at the North Hanley Station so that Chris, Larry and Bob could get their luggage since Bob and Chris would be flying out tonight, while Larry was flying home tomorrow. The rest of us would ride out to the west end at Lambert Airport then double back to North Hanley. We said our goodbyes to Bob and Chris before they and Larry left us. The rest of us finished riding the entire MetroLink system when we arrived at Lambert Airport.
Our train at the airport. We had to wait for another arriving train since this last section between the two airport stations is single track, then return east to North Hanley and detrained.
Our train at North Hanley.
We said our goodbyes, first to MetroLink, then to Larry as we climbed into the van for our return to La Plata.
The Drive Back to La PlataThe van had more room on the trip back with three less people and we made a needed bathroom, food and petrol stop before we departed St. Louis. We drove west on Interstate 70 before turning off onto US Highway 61, which we took north to Hannibal in order to see more of the Show Me State of Missouri. We hit a few rain showers but as we approached Hannibal, they stopped. We turned left on US Highway 36 along the former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy line and saw one train with a Canadian National locomotive leading a BNSF GP60B.
At Macon, we turned right onto Highway 63 which returned us to La Plata and the Depot Inn and Suites. A special thank you to Ray Ivy for the excellent job of driving us to and from St. Louis in not the most perfect weather conditions. We ate dinner with the Walkers at the Red Rooster then returned to the hotel for another relaxing night, followed by a free day of just enjoying this excellent hotel. We would be leaving Thursday morning on our return trip, but that is another story.
