In 1930, I wish to know where the entrances were located in for the St. Louis Freight Tunnel, how it navigated under the St. Louis city street and how it connected from the Eads Bridge to the Mill Creek Rail Yards.
It starts at the railyards at Clark and 8th, heads north on 8th, turns east at Washington Avenue, goes east on Washington, and then enters the Eads Bridge.
Yes, there were probably other entrances. Up until the mid-Twentieth Century, there was a giant vent stack in the middle of the curve from 8th to Washington that allowed for coal smoke from the locomotives to escape from the tunnel. The tunnel would have been heavily used in the 1930s, even with the addition of the Merchants and MacArthur (Municipal Free) bridges.
Thank you very much for your reply. This information is very helpful for my research. I have more questions. May I speak with you or email you direct? Thanks! larry
In 1930, I wish to know where the entrances were located in for the St. Louis Freight Tunnel, how it navigated under the St. Louis city street and how it connected from the Eads Bridge to the Mill Creek Rail Yards.
It starts at the railyards at Clark and 8th, heads north on 8th, turns east at Washington Avenue, goes east on Washington, and then enters the Eads Bridge.
Thanks
1 Is it theoretically possible that there were other entrances for maintenance staff to enter?
2. And how wide was the tunnel
3And how often would it have been used in1930? Thanks larry
Yes, there were probably other entrances. Up until the mid-Twentieth Century, there was a giant vent stack in the middle of the curve from 8th to Washington that allowed for coal smoke from the locomotives to escape from the tunnel. The tunnel would have been heavily used in the 1930s, even with the addition of the Merchants and MacArthur (Municipal Free) bridges.
Thank you very much for your reply. This information is very helpful for my research. I have more questions. May I speak with you or email you direct? Thanks! larry
You can email me at naffziger (at) gmail (dot) com.
Do you know if the Washington Ave Historic District used that location at Clark & 8th to ship their products over the Eads Bridge?
I’m sure they did. It would have been the closest and most convenient depot. They probably also used the shipping docks on the Near North Riverfront.