BNSF Cuba Sub

[ROBERT S ZUCCO]

Hello.............my name is bob and i grew up loving the cuba sub even though the mopac was all around in south st louis........my aunt and grandmother lived right on the cuba sub........formerly the rolla sub in shrewsbury and webster groves, mo........and we had a club house on the meramec river 1 mile from moselle, mo m.p. 46 on the cuba sub between  rook and st clair passing sidings...........since i was born in 1940 s....i saw all the great trains........texas special.......meteor.........will rodgers.........newburg local......called the general wood by some............troop trains........in the 1950s there were approximately 16 regularly scheduled trains a day...........besides extras.......the club house at moselle made for some great train watching as those FAs......F7s and E8s  throttled out for the run up iron hill westbound to m.p. 50 just east of st clair..........watchng the meteor come thru moselle on a hot august night in the 1950s with its 2 e units and somewhere around 16 cars and all those illuminated car windows and the 5 chime leslie st5r chime was a thrill ill never forget...........followed by #437 and it 4 pristine black and yellow F units..........today there are only a few trains........a local......the stl-tul.....the stl-clo............havnt heard the tul-gal lately but there are some detours.......and they finally replace all the jointed 132 lb rail from the mid 50s............so get some atcs installed on your pc and listen to the bnsf/up ozark radio stream......bob,,,,,

[Anonymous]

Mark,
Yes, I have been there. It is a good reference to the Cuba Sub. But, I have bad news. The old Frisco "Highline" is no longer part of the Cuba Subdivision, as the miles of the Cuba Sub continue to decrease. BNSF got permission to abandon the line from Springfield to Bolivar, once the mainline from Springfield to Kansas City.The line lived for 117 years. Plans are made for a walking path called The Highline Trail, built on the old route. The land was donated to the trail project by BNSF, and the rails are to be lifted by this fall. The last train ran in 2001. I have only seen one train on this line, it was a fairly short mixed freight, mostly tank cars. It will be missed, as is the Salem branch.

Brian

[Anonymous]

As a BNSF fan, you've probably been to this web page. It has maps of all of the BNSF divisions and comes in handy when referring to division locations:

http://www.bnsf.com/about_bnsf/html/division_maps.html

[Anonymous]

The Cuba Sub is a beautiful route. if you want good pictures, the best time is in the fall. The best spots are between Rolla and Lebanon. My personal favorite is The view south from West Jury Siding, near Hancock. It is in the middle of nowhere. Be expected to walk and jump barbed wire if you go. Another good spot is Newburg siding. Both East and West end are good, with the paralleling Little Piney Creek. The Buick mine branch is great no matter when you go or where. Where are the best photo opportunities on the River Sub? Have you been to Turrel, or do you know if the River Sub ends there, or does it continue into Memphis. I heard one on the River sub at Ringer at 1:00 am on New Year's Day. They do run a lot at night. Thanks for the scanner frequencies.

[Anonymous]

Good to hear their treating the Cuba sub better. It's a beautiful route, and I've noticed that traffic has increased since the merger. River sub traffic is somewhat erratic. At least 1 coal load and empty each day down to Crystal City. No real intermodal to speak of though. Lots of mixed manifest and auto traffic. Traffic seems to go in spurts each day as we hear the whistles at both Valcour and Weber road up near Lindenwood. Lots of overnight trains it seems. So sitting and watching trains on Cuba or River is a test of patience. Since it's largely single tracked, you won't see trains in clusters. Ringer Rd. crossing is a fun place to watch trains since they move down the hill there pretty quick. But you have to know when their coming or you can sit there for hours. I usually hear southbounds call the Lindenwood yardmaster before leaving (160.965), so that helps in trainwatching. Later...

[Anonymous]

Thanks, mark,
i watch trains on the River Sub more often now, not on Strecker road but on Ringer road. I meant to say Ringer last time, not Strecker. i don't know if the River sub sees more traffic than the Cuba Sub, but i know that the River sub is in better shape in most places. Probably because BN treated the Cuba Sub very poorly during its years. BNSF is making the Cuba Sub look a lot better now, with the new ties, rails, crossings, and signals.

[Anonymous]

Love the Cuba sub, very scenic with interesting trains (not just coal like Jeff City sub on UP). Even some Q trains each day. I live very close to the River sub (161.385). There is more coal on that line going down to Crystal City to the Rush Island plant. I've got a Cuba Sub (when it was called Springfield) and a River Sub (when called Memphis Sub) timetable from many years ago. Pretty interesting reading. And I think the BNSF website had downloadable PDF files that detail the operating rules for each subdivision. I didn't get out to Pacific to see that derailment. Sounded pretty nasty. I saw the one in Webster Groves about 4 months ago that dumped coal all over Lockwood Avenue. They've still working on replacing the trackage in that area...

[Anonymous]

I live 5 miles North of Eureka, and I practically live on the Cuba Sub. LONG LIVE BNSF!! I know that the Cuba Sub's traffic has greatly increased due to the merger. It's now about 9 trains a day, and I don't know much about the river Sub, but I do occasionally hang out around Strecker Road. The Cuba Sub's Frequency is 161.160o I know, but what is the River Sub's? I went to see the wreck on the UP in Pacific. It's incredible. The lead SD 90 Mac has its nose to its numberboard smashed into a space about a foot long, and looks like it exploded. It's in about 3 dozen pieces, and the whole site smells strong of diesel feul. Both mainline tracks are open now, and trains are limited to 40 MPH over the temporary track of Pano-rail. At least now they'll fix the Silica mine siding. Nice crews have let me help them throw switches and even run the locomotive unassited serving the facility, and the track is so rough, it will rock you from side to side of the locomotive. If you go, the UP Jeff City Sub's frequency is 161.220o. Nice to know there's someone out there that watches on the Cuba Sub.

[Anonymous]

What about the Cuba sub? I live about a mile or so south of Lindenwood yard where the Cuba and River subs meet. Don't hear as much scanner traffic for the Cuba sub as I do for the River sub though. Any estimation as to how many trains a day it sees these days??? I used to sit out in Valley Park in the evenings and watch the UP and the occasional BN train come by. It was a pretty decent spot...

[Anonymous]

anyone with the Cuba Sub out there?