Western Railroad Discussion > Early morning at the Union Pacific junction in Gorham, Illinois

As traffic patterns changed over the years, many old railroad towns have seen their status change.  Gorham, Illinois, is an example in more ways than one.

Gorham, known more to history as a town that was virtually obliterated by the 1925 Tri-State Tornado, was once home to a yard and was the point where Missouri Pacific branches into the southern Illinois coal fields joined the main line.  It was one of the last places to see steam on the MoPac, which ended on the coal branches surrounding nearby Bush.  David P. Morgan and Phillip R. Hastings visited the area on one of their steam safaris in the mid-fifties, and photos from that visit have appeared in Trains Magazine, the Kalmbach volume that collected those articles entitled "The Mohawk That Refused To Abdicate," and other railfan volumes including "The Age Of Steam" by Beebe and Clegg.  The very last run of MoPac steam, a funeral train of dead engines pulled by a pair of 2-8-0's headed from Bush to Dupo in the St. Louis area, traveled down the branch to the mainline at Gorham on its way to the boneyard.

One by one the mines closed and the branches around Bush were abandoned.  The Bush engine terminal and yard were removed and with the decline of branchline traffic, the yard at Gorham fell by the wayside as well.  The town lost its status as a railroad town.

Mostly.

As the Missouri Pacific folded the Chicago & Eastern Illinois into its system, that little branch into the coal fields suddenly became a major artery.  The C&EI passed through the coal fields as well, and the Egyptian Line to Cairo connected with the MoPac branch at Benton, Illinois.  Suddenly, the MoPac found itself with a direct route with which to compete for traffic between Texas, the Gulf Coast and Chicago.

Today the route is an important part of the Union Pacific system and while Gorham may not be a railroad town when it comes to employment figures, it is a busy junction town as traffic to and from the south takes routes to Dupo (the former MoPac yard across the Mississippi from St. Louis) or Chicago.  Running straight through town is the Chester Subdivision, beginning at Dupo 85 miles to the north, continuing south to the Mississippi River at Thebes, and on to Dexter, Missouri, before heading to either Pine Bluff (Cotton Belt) or North Little Rock (MoPac), Arkansas.  Diverging from the Chester Subdivision on the wye surrounding the remains of the Gorham yard is the Mt. Vernon Subdivision, heading north to Salem, Illinois, and on to Chicago.

The period around sunrise on a normal day can get quite busy at Gorham, and I went there in the pre-dawn hours to be in position for some sunrise shots.  It was a cold morning, with temperatures in the high teens.  As it turned out, the temperatures scuttled plans for shots right at sunrise as a combination of the the cold and a weak air compressor on a CSX runthrough locomotive tied up the railroad as two trains ended up disabled with air problems.  After listening to radio traffic that was rather comical at times between the train crews and a mechanic sent down out of Dupo, a hot southbound intermodal train was routed through the congestion.  At the same time, a southbound off the Mt. Vernon Sub. was approaching as well.

The video picks up as the southbound off the Mt. Vernon Sub. pulls up to a stop signal with the stack train approaching on Chester Sub. main #2.  All the trains in this video passed by 8:30am, January 30, 2017.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

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NICE JOB Mary,  Great video.

Brian
Burlington, Iowa

Nice video and narrative. For more info, Gorham sees 40 or so trains in a 24-hour period. North of Gorham, the Chester Sub and Mt Vernon Sub both see about 20 or so trains a day. However, the Chester Sub gets busier in Chester due to the Pinckneyville Sub coal trains.

Here are the symbols for Gorham (not all trains run daily):

•Mount Vernon Sub
-intermodal-
KEGYC Eagle Pass, TX FXE - Yard Center, IL
ZDTMX Salem, IL CSX - Laredo, TX KCSM
ZLDYC Port Laredo, TX - Yard Center, IL
ZLDYCB Port Laredo, TX - Yard Center, IL
ZLDYCC Port Laredo, TX - Yard Center, IL
ZMXDT Laredo, TX KCSM - Salem, IL CSX
ZMXYC Laredo, TX KCSM - Yard Center, IL
ZYCLD Yard Center, IL - Port Laredo, TX
ZYCLDB Yard Center, IL - Port Laredo, TX
ZYCMX Yard Center, IL - Laredo, TX KCSM
ZYCMXB Yard Center, IL - Laredo, TX KCSM
ZYCSA Yard Center, IL - San Antonio, TX

-autorack-
AASSM East St Louis, IL ALS - Salem, IL
ASMAR Salem, IL - Arlington, TX
ASMKB Salem, IL - Kirby, TX
ASMSP Salem, IL - Spring, TX

-manifest-
MINPB Salem, IL CSX - Pine Bluff, AR
MNLTT North Little Rock, AR - Kinmundy, IL CN
MPIPB Sidney, IL NS - Pine Bluff, AR
MSMPB Salem, IL - Pine Bluff, AR
MTTPB Kinmundy, IL CN - Pine Bluff, AR
MTXBU Texarkana, AR - Butler, WI
QNLBV North Little Rock, AR - Sidney, IL NS
QNLIN North Little Rock, AR - Salem, IL CSX
QNLPR North Little Rock, AR - Proviso, IL

-sand-
MBUMHS Butler, WI - Monahans, TX


•Chester Sub
-intermodal-
IG4MQ Global 4, IL - Mesquite, TX
IHODU Houston, TX - Dupo, IL
IHOG4 Houston, TX - Global 4, IL
ITAME3 Tacoma, WA - Memphis, TN NS
KMNDU Marion, AR - Dupo, IL
KSEMN Seattle, WA - Marion, AR
ZDUMQ Dupo, IL - Mesquite, TX
ZG4HO Global 4, IL - Houston, TX
ZG4MQ Global 4, IL - Mesquite, TX
ZMQG4 Mesquite, TX - Global 4, TX

-autorack-
AASSM East St. Louis, IL ALS - Salem, IL
AARAS Arlington, TX - East St. Louis, IL ALS
AEGAS Eagle Pass, TX FXE - East St. Louis, IL ALS
ALDAS Port Laredo, TX - East St. Louis, IL ALS
ALDASB Port Laredo, TX - East St. Louis, IL ALS

-manifest-
MASEW East St. Louis, IL ALS - Englewood, TX
MASNL East St. Louis, IL ALS - North Little Rock, AR
MASPB East St. Louis, IL ALS - Pine Bluff, AR
MNLAS North Little Rock, AR - East St. Louis, IL ALS
MNLASB North Little Rock, AR - East St. Louis, IL ALS
MPRPB Proviso, IL - Pine Bluff, AR
MYCPB Yard Center, IL - Pine Bluff, AR
QASLI East St. Louis, IL ALS - Livonia, LA
QTXAS Texarkana, AR - East St. Louis, IL ALS

Andrew

Posted from iPhone



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/17 19:56 by florida581.

Nice video coverage.  Some of the best action scenes often found in obscure places such as this.  Thanks for showing.
Brian Stevens

Interesting writeup that is much appreciated, and great video with excellent sound. That first clip was interesting because the way the horn sounded I figured it couldn't be the train creeping up.

Cool video!!