“The Illinois Central offered Chicago – St Louis service in the form of the Green Diamond and the Daylight. Both trains made daily round trips between the two cities, with the Green Diamond originating in St Louis, and the Daylight originating in Chicago. The Daylight is seen arriving in St Louis in October 1949 behind a pair of E8s.” (Joe Collias)

This week’s selection from Rails Around Missouri can be found in Chapter Five: St Louis & Surrounding Area. Rails Around Missouri was released as a 224-page hard cover book on May 10, 2013. The book features over 500 all-color photos like the one above, plus maps and depots. Your copy is available for $47.95 plus shipping. Choose between the KCS or Frisco cover, and your copy will come signed by the author. We are over 1/2 way to sold out, so order today!

As a bonus, here’s an alternative shot of the Illinois Central along the St Louis riverfront in 1966. The image is copyrighted to Blackhawk Films, and therefore was not able to be included in the book.

Next, in a shot that IS in the book and also in the St Louis chapter, GM&O F3 #883-A leads the Alton Limited out of St Louis Union Station in July 1949, bound for Chicago. (Joe Collias)

 Finally, a shot not included is this one of GM&O Alco DL-109 #272 in an undated photo at St Louis Union Station. In addition to the well-known St Louis – Chicago service over the former Chicago & Alton route, the GM&O also offered “Rebel” service from St Louis to Tennessee and Alabama over the original Gulf, Mobile & Ohio routes. Power for the “southern” lines was almost exclusively Alco, while service to Chicago was almost exclusively EMD-powered. This shot was not included as it is a duplicate slide, and the photographer could not be identified. Thanks for looking!

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