Centralia, Il

[MP173]

Boredom last night drove me to the Google Earth site and I followed the ex B&O line east from St. Louis, then dropped down to Centralia.  I spent a little time in the 70's taking pictures there and also made several sales calls to the IC shops during the 90's, so I am a little familiar with the railroading.

What was interesting to me last night was the size of the BNSF yard.  What is the function of that yard today?  I assume back in the day, it was used for classifying coal loads from Southern Illinois.  It is still a pretty sizeable yard.  Is there any interchange of manifest trains at Centralia between BNSF and CN or NS?  Is Centralia a crew change for BNSF? 

Thanks,

ed

[gabe]

Boredom last night drove me to the Google Earth site and I followed the ex B&O line east from St. Louis, then dropped down to Centralia.  I spent a little time in the 70's taking pictures there and also made several sales calls to the IC shops during the 90's, so I am a little familiar with the railroading.

What was interesting to me last night was the size of the BNSF yard.  What is the function of that yard today?  I assume back in the day, it was used for classifying coal loads from Southern Illinois.  It is still a pretty sizeable yard.  Is there any interchange of manifest trains at Centralia between BNSF and CN or NS?  Is Centralia a crew change for BNSF? 

Thanks,

ed

Trains' map of the month 2 issues ago, I think, seemed to indicate that Centralia was an interchange point for freight as well.

To my dismay, I have only really gone to Centralia twice to look at trains.  I think it might be one of the most under rated places in the world to watch trains . . . if it only had a short line.

Too bad the Missouri and Illinois Railroad no longer serves the town.

Gabe

[MP173]

Agreed!  I did catch the M&I back in 74 or 75.  However, they were just MoPac GP18's.

Did I really say "only MoPac GP18's"? 

Those Southern SD45's running long hood forward were a treat.

ed

[Bob-Fryml]

Those MoPac GP18s operating on the Missouri-Illinois in the mid-70s were affectionately known as "Christines" - named after Christine Jorgensen, supposedly the first person to undergo a sex change operation.  This series of locomotive had Alco car bodies, trucks, and electrical systems, but the Company replaced the prime movers with EMD 567's.  The idea here was to standardize on parts and maintenance procedures.

This model of locomotive seldom traveled far from the Saint Louis maintenance base because headquarters wanted to keep an eye on them to see how well the re-engining of these units was working out.

[MP173]

That is a great story.  I will have to check my photos, but what I saw was a GP carbody, but wasnt a GP7 or 9.  Hmmm, I will have to retrieve the Diesel Spotter's Guide by Jerry Pinkepank and make an identification.  Maybe they were GP20's

ed

[wabash1]

Boredom last night drove me to the Google Earth site and I followed the ex B&O line east from St. Louis, then dropped down to Centralia.  I spent a little time in the 70's taking pictures there and also made several sales calls to the IC shops during the 90's, so I am a little familiar with the railroading.

What was interesting to me last night was the size of the BNSF yard.  What is the function of that yard today?  I assume back in the day, it was used for classifying coal loads from Southern Illinois.  It is still a pretty sizeable yard.  Is there any interchange of manifest trains at Centralia between BNSF and CN or NS?  Is Centralia a crew change for BNSF? 

Thanks,

ed

the BN yard today is a run thru yard for the most part it does interchange with the ns and ic, in the day it was a classifacation yard but the amount of frieght that comes in today is not that much, coal trains come in and recrew 3-4 trains can be seen sitting waiting at the yard some of the coal goes south on the ic and the other is down their trackage to the river to dump. even the ic yard is closed now .