“In April of 1959, Wabash E8 #1012 leads train #10, the City of St Louis out of Mexico, Missouri, after making its station stop. This train was a joint operation with the Union Pacific Railroad, using UP rails west of Kansas City to Denver, where it was split for connections to Los Angeles and Portland.” – Bill Gibson photo

“One of the busiest railroads at Union Station was the Wabash, with service to Kansas City, Omaha, Chicago & Detroit. In the 1940s the Wabash got into the streamliner market by converting seven 2-8-2s into streamlined 4-6-4s with 80” drivers and “elephant ear” smoke deflectors. Engine #701 is seen departing Union Station on October 9, 1947 with the Banner Blue for Chicago. Note the brand new PRR E7s in the background.” – Joe Collias photo

– The above selections from “Rails Around Missouri” are from chapters 1 and 5, respectively. “Rails Around Missouri” was released on May 10, 2013 as a 224-page, hard cover book with over 500 all-color photos like the ones above. Your copy is available for $47.95 plus shipping and will come signed by the author. choose between the KCS or Frisco cover.  Don’t delay! – There are less than 100 copies of the Frisco cover left!

With over 800 images submitted for consideration, not all could be used. Below are a pair of Wabash shots not included, but are worth sharing here. First is a shot of a Wabash passenger train using the TRRA High Line along the St Louis riverfront. This slide was unmarked and believed to be a duplicate slide. Due to this and no accompanying information, it was not used. It s unusual to see a Wabash passenger train using this line along the riverfront, as all eastbound Wabash trains departed Union Station heading west to Delmar before turning east to cross the Mississippi Rover on the Merchants Bridge. Click the image for a larger view.

Next, we see N&W dome-observation car #1601, originally built for the Wabash Blue Bird, on track #2 at Union Station in August of 1966. Now assigned to the Banner Blue, the car still reflects its Wabash heritage inside and out. Note the GM&O observation car Abraham Lincoln on track 1. That car is currently on display at the Museum of Transport in St Louis County. Photo by Michael J Kelly. Click for a larger view.

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