19-03-27c PHOTOS: Lincoln Corridor - Part 2

Here is the second of two ports detailing Amtrak's Lincoln Corridor, which stretches about 250 miles between Joliet and Granite City, IL. Over the past decade, the route, owned by Union Pacific, has seen about a 1 billion dollars worth of investment to upgrade it to support 110mph speeds and more frequent service. At this point 110mph service has been tested, but integration with active grade crossing protections is still ongoing and remains the real barrier to higher speed service. Still other improvements has increased line capacity and reduced delays in other ways line using higher speed turnouts and more double track.

Part 1 covered the section from Joliet to Springfield and Part 2 will cover Springfield to Saint Louis. This includes the last section of the line to be rebuilt, from Alton through to WR Tower on the Terminal Railroad. The full gallery of photos can be found here (mirror) and the previous Lincoln Corridor video post can be found here and the METRA Heritage Corridor post can be found here.

The station at Springfield, IL is arguably the most important one on the line as it serves the state lawmakers, many from the Chicago area, who need to make frequent use of the service. That being said the station still consists of a single low level platform that required two stops to service the long Texas Eagle tainset. In theory UP freights with clearance requirements could be routed around this downtown segment via the NS Springfield-Hannibal district allowing for the construction of a high level platform.

Illinois State Capitol dome and brick lined streets at Vine Street in Springfield.

Between ISLES and HAZEL DELL interlockings, the UP Springfield Sub runs over the NS Springfield-Hannibal District. Here we are departing the short 3 mile section of NS territory and re-joining the concrete ties of the Lincoln Corridor. 

Historic Alton station at Chatham.

Two track station at Carlinville, the second platform is new and can be used for timed meets.

South of Carlinville the line enters more hilly terrain, but despite the lower speeds, four quadrant crossing gates have still been installed.

Making the 60mph diverging movement onto the siding at Shipman in order to pass northbound Lincoln Service Train 306 with SC44 #4622.

The new Alton Transportation Center replaced the old Alton, IL station, located a mile or so to the west, around 2015. I remember the last time I was on this route being in the dining car waiting to get served as my St Louis departure point loomed ever closer. 

At WANN interlocking the single track line turns into a double track line using a pair of parallel, split single track rights of way. WANN was the last interlocking on the line to still use Baltimore and Ohio style color position light signals, a holdover from the B&O's ownership of the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio, which were replaced in 2018.

Here is the UP yard office and autorack facility at WANN.

WOODRIVER interlocking marks a very rare North American use of an outside single slip switch, something more common to Continental Europe. Note the split rights of way.

I was really starting to loose the light when we finally hit LENOX tower and its inside format single slip switch. The lights were on in LENOX, but it had been closed just 5 months before. LENOX was an old NY Central tower featuring an original GRS Model 2 pistol grip interlocking machine. Union Pacific ended up as the operator of LENOX after Conrail abandoned the Big Four route to St. Louis in favor of the parallel PRR main line. The Chicago and Eastern Illinois, later Missouri Pacific, had trackage rights over the Big Four between Pana, IL and LENOX and assumed ownership from Conrail. UP eventually purchased both the MoPac and Southern Pacific, that wound up with the Alton, turning LENOX into a major Union Pacific junction between St. Louis and Chicago. 

There was a lot of action at LENOX when we passed through with a northbound UnionPacific freight cleared up the Alton, a southbound Union Pacific freight waiting on the Pana Sub and an NS roadrailer train moving east on the ex-Wabash St. Louis District towards a Restricting signal indication at LENOX. 

The NS roadrailers were being hauled by NS C44-9W #9895.

A few miles to the south NS C44-9W #9039 was engaged in some shenanigans with NS GP59E #4656 and RP-M4C slug #611 involving a hand operated switch.

On the opposite track that northbound UP freight showed up with AC4400 #6333 and a sibling unit.

WR Tower is operated by the TRRA and has its own weak take on an outside slip switch. This is generally considered as the start of the St. Louis terminal area, although some would argue that it starts back at LENOX. 

At this point it was time for dinner in the dining car and by the time we were finished the train was hanging out at St. Louis Gateway Station with a River Runner trainset across the platform led by SC44 #4610. This station was opened in 2008, replacing a rundown Amshack with almost no platform infrastructure. At this point I was able to discover that my Texas Eagle Train #21 was being hauled by a single Amtrak P42DC, #171.

Well that's it for the Lincoln Corridor. Next week we'll wake up deep in the heart of the Texas-Arkansas border.