Railfan Guides

Below are some of my favorite places to railfan!

Chester Subdivision

The Union Pacific Chester Sub operates between East St. Louis, IL and Dexter, MO.

Much of the line is 2 Main Track, with trains able to operate north or south on either track. In some spots, the route narrows to a single track main with passing sidings.

The line is in Illinois between East. St. Louis and south to Thebes, IL, at which point it crosses the Mississippi River and enters Scott City, MO. The Illinois portion travels allow the steep and scenic cliffs of the Mississippi river bluffs.

In Dupo, IL, some trains stop at the yard office for crew changes. Other trains either terminate or originate here. There is a large yard that includes a gravity hump for sorting cars in the bowl. Additionally, there is a busy intermodal terminal, car shop, and staging yard for through trains. At Chester, IL there is a small yard and crew office. Also there, the lesser used Pinkneyville Sub leaves northeast toward Mt. Vernon. At Gorham, the Mt. Vernon Sub joins from its route coming from Chicago. Scott City also includes a crew base. Reaching Dexter, there is a crew change point.

Main track action is coordinated by the UP Dispatcher in Omaha, NE using AAR channel 96 (161.550mHz on a scanner.) The main yard channel is AAR 24 (160.470mHz), although crews working in the yard use a variety of radio channels.

Check out this Railfan Guide video I uploaded to my YouTube channel several years ago!

Left: A solo GP38 switches a string of stack cars at the Dupo intermodal terminal.

Right: A southbound rolls under the old signal bridge at Gorham.