THE RAPTURE

 

Railroad engineers snatched out of their cabs? Scary. For those unfamiliar with the particularly American theological concept, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture .                   

TOWER TEE AND TARGET

 

Mid-town St. Louis, as urban as it gets around here. It doesn't seem like a good location for a huge golf driving range but there it is, doing enough business to have been around several years. The Target is a mini store compared to the usual suburban iterations, set in the ground floor of a new apartment complex. It is all mid-way between St. Louis University's main campus and the south/medical campus. BTW, looking generally east on Chouteau from Grand.                        

4014

 

That's Big Boy's engine number for the Union Pacific Railroad. This was as close as I could get with my longest lens when it was at St. Louis Union Station Saturday. The thing exudes power.                

BIG BOY

 

Got it. Big Boy, discussed yesterday, left downtown St. Louis and passed through the suburb where I live, Webster Groves, on its way out of town. Lots of room. It is hard to get a sense of scale of this thing unless you look at it broadside.                   

TRAIN TIME

 

During World War II, the Union Pacific Railroad built a group of enormous locomotives to move material, known as Big Boys. Only one of them, Number 4014, is still operational. https://www.up.com/about-us/history/steam/big-boy-4014 Every few years the company trots it out for a coast to coast tour, stopping in St. Louis yesterday. The viewing area was so poorly laid out that no one could get beyond the front of the unit and the crush of people was intolerable. This other engine, with its semiquincentennial theme, had plenty of room.   

Big Boy will pass close to our home this morning on its way to Kansas City so I will see if I can get a better shot.         

NEW STREET ART

 

Seen while stopped at a traffic light. I assume this is a utility or telecom box. I'll stop by to see the finished product.           

REHAB OPPORTUNITY

 

South of the Arch and hard by the Mississippi sits and old industrial area, mostly vacant now. There were well-advanced plans for a multi-use redevelopment using some of the buildings in the background. Something over a year ago intense fire swept through the structures with the now-blank windows. The future is unknown.