mopac yards in Dupo, IL. in the 40's/50's

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
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Asking for info on the rail yard in Dupo,IL from the 1940’s to the 1950’s

I’m starting a layout est. 15 ft. by 15ft. in that time period. But, having difficulty finding

pictures of the yard to duplicate it. If any one has any ideas were to find info or has the

info they would like to share that would be great.

Thanks again

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Hi xtreme,

I Agrew up about 20 miles from there. I remember that there was a huge icing platform there. From the highway you could see the crews loading ice blocks into the reefers. This was a very labor intensive operation in the 50’s.

Perhaps the St Clair County Historical Society would have something on the web.

Also, there is a railroad history group which focuses on the RR’s which served the St. Louis area. I don’t know the name of the group, but the owner of Red Board Hobbies in Belleville, IL could probably tell you how to reach them. I have seen some very detailed RR maps put together by the group.

Also: http://www.mopac.org/mphs_bod.asp#a

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Thanks for the great info!!

I had Great grand father that worked on the railroad in that yard in the 30’s.

My grand parents live in Dupo now and I spent all of my summers growing up in Dupo.

So it will be great to duplicate this. Again thanks for the leads hope to hear from you again.

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If you are in Dupo visiting the family head for the hobby shop that faces the yard, Stewart’s Hobbies I believe it is called. Not only does he have an elevated observation deck over looking the hump-yard, but he has some historical photos of the yard on display on the walls of the store.

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Mainline Modeler magazine ran an article about the Dupo yard around 1995 or 96, which included several photos taken during that time period, but I no longer have back issues.

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Reynold’s Railways is the store.

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The turntable was south of the road under the hump to the east of the hump.

http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=4&S=11&Z=15&X=1857&Y=10668&W=1&qs=|east+st.+louis|IL|

Dave H.

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Thanks, you would think I would remember the name of the place, I have been there enough times!!

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The maps I have (1941) just show two rail lines along the west edge of the town and say things like “MP roundhouse and yards beyond” and “full of tracks”. If the wording of where it says roundhouse is really significant it is west of Dryroff Avenue.

There are a couple details that perhaps you can combine with other references to help:

There is one siding to the east that splits from the main (looks like a double track main) at “Godin” street. It parallels N. Main (also called 1st street?) for about 1.5 city block and ends (butts into) at some gasoline storage tanks. Lindman Blvd is just to the south of this. I don’t see any industries along this siding so it is possibly a team track.

Just south of Lindman Blvd is the passenger station. This is where Main angles off to the east. If it didn’t the station would almost be in the center of the road.

The water tower is just a bit south from the station (about where south 2nd meets S. Main).

There is a turnout on the west main branching to the north at about McClure street. Cannot tell where it goes to.

The EStI&C, Mopac, and IC all cross and meet at about where State Highway #3, Falling Springs Avenue, and 4th streets meet. The IC runs E-W, the MP is almost N-S, and the EStI&C is going NW-SE

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The Cotton Belt had trackage rights through Dupo on this part of the MP from Valley Junction, IL to North Junction, IL for a total of 119 miles. The Cotton Belt’s primary yard in the area was at Valley Junction about four miles north of Dupo.

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THANKS FOR THE GREAT INFO!!

FOUND IT IN MAY 1994 BACK ISSUE SO ORDERED IT!

LET YOU KNOW THE EXSTENT OF THE CONTENT

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I’LL LOOK INTO THE BELT LINE INFO.

TO MY KNOWLEDGE UNDERSTAND THAT THE YARD IN DUPO WAS THE THIRD LARGEST

OF THE TIME (???) MAY BE WRONG. IF SO THE CHALLENGE OF REPRODUCTION WILL

BE GREAT.

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THEIR IS A DRAWING ON THE BACK WALL BEHIND CASH DESK ONLY DISPLAYING (IF CORRECT)

1/3 OF THE YARD. THAT DRAWING WAS TAKEN FROM A BOOK IN THE DUPO LIBRARY

BY THE OWNER DIRK REYNOLDS. VERY LARGE YARD (VERY LARGE)!!

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just wanted to say i recieved the back issue and found the info to be great

awesome pics back from the 40’s

thanks again for your help

by the way found that it was an engine yard and it was 2.4 miles long