| Missouri has some of the richest iron reserves in the world. The Pea Ridge Mine, about an hour southwest of St. Louis, opened in the 1950s and was served by a 30 or so mile long branch off the Missouri Pacific DeSoto Subdivision known as the "Pea Ridge Subdivision." The mine has had several owners, and the most recent one closed down all operations in 2001. UPs mine run ran every Sunday morning out of St. Louis, the L-SH55. Most Sundays, I followed the train all the way to the mine and back. This photo was taken of the final run - a decent 60 car train - in September 2001 near Sullivan, MO. The two small GEs really made some noise pulling all that tonnage! Since then, the Pea Ridge Sub has fallen silent, but used on odd occasions by UP to store railcars. The mine is currently idled, but Alberici construction has purchased it and has plans to open it up to world production. Stay tuned. |