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Come along with us for a look at thirty years of change along Union Pacific’s water level route south of St. Louis. This program comes on two discs, with the first covering the period from 1991 through the first years following Union Pacific’s takeover of the Southern Pacific. The second disc looks at the railroad as it is today.

The program is edited in geographic fashion rather than chronologically, and we begin at Scott City, Missouri. Known as Illmo on the railroad, this was a crew change point for Southern Pacific trains (and Cotton Belt before 1992). It was also the home of perhaps the last railroad operated beanery in the U.S., as the railroad was obligated to provide meals for its crews as part of an agreement to lengthen the crew district from the East St. Louis area in 1949. We see crews grabbing their meals on the fly, shot just months before a new agreement ended the practice.

From there we work our way north to Gorham, Illinois, where U.P.’s line from Chicago joins the Chester Sub. Along the way, we visit the towns and locations along the way. These include multiple angles at the Thebes Bridge, the cut at Gale, the Big Muddy River, the scenic pond at John’s Spur, the junction at Gorham, and many more.

The first two thirds of Disc 1 shows the era when the line was jointly operated. A few scenes pre-date Southern Pacific’s absorption of Cotton Belt, and cabooses brought up the rear of many Cotton Belt freights. Tunnel motors and four-axle Geeps are common on S.P. trains, along with four-axle Dash-8 and six-axle Dash-9 power. Union Pacific power includes masses of SD40-2’s, along with six-axle GE power and the occasional four-axle unit. Eventually S.P. locomotives begin to show off speed lettering and U.P. begins acquiring wide-nose locomotives.

We return to Scott City following the merger to close out Disc 1, and retrace our steps back to Gorham during the post-merger era where any train could have any combination of paint schemes on the head end.

Disc 2 looks at today’s Union Pacific beginning thirty-five miles south of the East St. Louis area, and working our way south to the Mississippi River at Thebes. There are lots of fast intermodal and automotive trains, along with some unit trains and manifest freights. We visit some of the same locations as Disc 1, and add other scenic vistas. We also shot heavily during the early morning hours for the photogenic lighting that time of day provides.

This program shows railroading in the four seasons, including snowy and foggy conditions, spring floods, fall colors, and hot summer days. It’s fast-paced action with a variety unlikely to ever been seen again!

Copyright 2021
DVD-R – Four Hours on Two Discs
$22.00 plus shipping.
Shipped by first class mail.