FLOODING CONGESTS MIDWEST'S RAIL LINES

If you think you've got problems detouring around flooded streets and highways in the Cape Girardeau area, consider the plight of the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroad train dispatchers.

They must re-route not only their own freight trains, but the freight trains of other rail lines and some Amtrak passenger trains, avoiding washed-out tracks and closed bridges.

Transcontinental rail service has been disrupted by flooding along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

As a result, some of the nation's major railroads, such as the Santa Fe, Burlington Northern, Union Pacific and Southern Pacific have been scrambling to re-route trains and move their crew change points to new locations.

Much of the detoured rail traffic coming in and out of St. Louis is now moving over the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroad tracks between Dupo, Ill. and Scott City. (All railroads still refer to it as Illmo on their timetables.)

During a normal 24-hour period, about 30 freight trains go through Scott City.

Last week, about 40 trains were coming through Scott City during a 24-hour period, and that's just one way traffic. Add another 40 trains coming in the other direction, and you've got some idea of the magnitude of the problem dispatchers are facing as they try to shepherd the trains from East St. Louis to Pine Bluff or Poplar Bluff.

The problem is aggravated because at least one Amtrak passenger train, the north- and southbound Texas Eagles, are being detoured through Scott City each day because the Union Pacific Railroad's DeSoto branch line, between St. Louis and Poplar Bluff, is closed due to flooding on the Meramec River.

And in most cases, passenger trains still have the right-of-way over freight trains.

In Omaha, Neb., Union Pacific Railroad public affairs spokesman John Bromley remarked, "From what I have heard from the other rail carriers the scope of this flood is far more extensive than any other experienced by us and the other railroads, including 1973.

"Several rail carriers have lost key segments of their mainline routes and are having to detour over our tracks, which is adding to the congestion and traffic.

"Our River Subdivision line between St. Louis and Kansas City is out of service, although we can still operate over our Sedalia branch into Kansas City."

Bromley said most of the extra Union Pacific and other rail traffic is being re-routed over its Chester and Chicago subdivisions. The Chester subdivision runs from Dupo, Ill., to Thebes, Ill., where it joins the Southern Pacific tracks that cross the Mississippi River into Scott City. The Chicago subdivision trains join the Chester subdivision at Gorham, Ill.

Because Union Pacific trains enter Southern Pacific territory at Thebes, both the Union Pacific Chester Sub Dispatcher at Omaha, Neb., and the Southern Pacific's eastern region dispatcher at Houston, Texas, must coordinate the movement of the trains over each other's tracks.

That can be difficult even during a normal 24-hour period because of train delays caused by everything from locomotive problems to dark signals. Now, with all the extra trains being re-routed over the tracks, it is a challenge for the dispatchers to keep the trains moving at all times, and avoid backups along the tracks.

Mike Furtney, public affairs spokesman for the Southern Pacific in San Francisco, says in addition to the Houston train dispatcher, the east-west movements of the trains over the Southern Pacific west of Scott City are coordinated by the railroad's Transportation Service Center in Denver.

"Fortunately, the Southern Pacific has been less impacted by the flood than other railroads, mostly because we are able to detour our time-sensitive traffic over the old Cotton Belt mainline track between Illmo and Corsicana, Texas," Furtney explained.

The flooding in the St. Louis area has also forced the re-routing of the Southern Pacific's expedited freight train, the Blue Streak Merchandise, back onto familiar tracks on the Pine Bluff corridor. Until the 1980s, when it was re-routed through Kansas City, the Blue Streak ran each day between East St. Louis and the west coast, with a crew change at Scott City and Pine Bluff.

Unfortunately, the extra train traffic through Scott City has not resulted in any significant business for the Illmo Beanery, a track-side service that provides sack lunches to Union Pacific train crews as they pass by.

"All we've got is a lot more headaches trying to keep the train crews fed while keeping the food hot and drinks cold," said beanery owner Bob Camp. "With all the extra traffic, it's taking longer for the UP trains to get to our lunch stand next to the tracks. That means we have to keep the food warm and the drinks cold until the train can get here."

On a normal day, the beanery serves about 15 train crews. "We haven't seen too much of an increase over that. Just a lot more trains," said Camp.

Railroad officials said the extra traffic through Scott City will likely continue until the water recedes enough to repair and reopen damaged sections of track.

While the flooding has been a major headache for the railroads, it has been a bonanza for rail fans, who are lining up along the tracks between St. Louis and Poplar Bluff to capture on film or video all of the extra trains passing by.