Alton & Southern

Company History: The 32 mile Alton & Southern is the second large belt and terminal line in the St. Louis area, concentrating on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River.

This line was assembled in 1913 by a predecessor of Alcoa. Power in the steam era was provided by Mikados, 0-8-0’s and a rare 0-10-0 heavy switcher. Dieselization began in 1947 when the first Alco RS-2’s arrived. The fleet would remain all-Alco until 1969. Because ALS was free of EMD diesels, they did not benefit from the EMD design department in developing paint schemes. That is why their green and yellow paint schemes appear a bit odd compared to their neighbors. These paint schemes were also used on other shortlines owned by Alcoa during the Alco years. In 1966, Alcoa closed their large facility in the area and put the railroad up for sale. Missouri Pacific and Chicago & North Western each bought a 50% stake. Since the sale by Alcoa, the locomotives have been painted in a combination of MoPac "Jenks Blue" and C&NW harvest yellow. The logo has the shape of C&NW's "circle and bar" logo but the circle is an MP style "buzzsaw."

Just 5 years later, C&NW faced a cash crunch sold their half to Cotton Belt although that has not been reason enough to change the logo or the paint scheme. Now the ALS is owned entirely by Union Pacific but given its position as a terminal railroad, it is operated independently of the UP system. Alton & Southern now has 16 EMD locomotives (14 of which are switchers), and typically calls 10 crews per shift, 3 shifts per day. Their Gateway Yard sorts around 5,600 cars per day.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.