Railroad History

Passenger and Commuter Rail

Railroading Today

Rolling Stock

Infrastructure and Terms

Museums and Tourism

Miscellaneous

About The Site

[?] Subscribe To American-Rails.com

The Alton and Southern Railway

The Alton and Southern Railway (ALS) is a historic shortline terminal/switching operation based in St. Louis, Missouri and is currently owned by the Union Pacific. The little railroad has a unique and interesting history to say the least, which dates back to the early 20th century when it was originally constructed by a private aluminum manufacturer. For those rail historian aficionados out there you may notice the railroad’s emblem looks oddly familiar, this is because it is a hybrid of that of its former owners, the Missouri Pacific and Chicago & North Western. Furthermore the railroad’s paint scheme is a blend of both the MoPac and North Western and interestingly the UP continues to hold to tradition, allowing motive power to still to be adorned in the fascinating livery. Today, the A&S, while owned by the UP is actually an independently operated terminal line that dispatches dozens of train daily around busy St. Louis.

The history of the Alton and Southern Railway dates back to the first decade of the 20th century when the Aluminum Company of East St. Louis (a predecessor to the Aluminum Company Of America better known as Alcoa) became frustrated with the shipping and switching services it was being provided by the Southern Railway system. So, to fix this problem the company simply created its own railroad, incorporating the Alton & Southern Railroad Company in 1910. Located on the Illinois-side of the city in a community known as Alorton, the aluminum plant constructed the railroad to a connection with the St. Louis & Belleville Electric Railway located to the east, which would provide it with direct interchange to bypass the Southern. The StL&BE was a subsidiary of interurban East St. Louis & Subruban Railway and mostly provided freight service to the locale area.

In late 1910 after the A&S had completed its initial main line the Aluminum Company chartered the Denverside Connecting Railway on November 23rd to construct about a five mile line to the east where it could connect with the Illinois Central at Fox Junction to both increase its interchange partners as well as allow for increased shipments of bauxite to the plant. A year later it incorporated a third railroad, the Alton & Southern Railway on November 1, 1911, which was meant to provide a northern connection to the St. Louis & O’Fallon Railway at an interchange located near what is today St. Clair Avenue. To better streamline operations the Aluminum Company the Alton & Southern Railroad in the summer of 1913 to manage and oversee all three smaller lines.

In the coming years the little A&S became quite a terminal operation around East St. Louis. As it continued to head northward it gained connections to other systems like the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad (later part of the Chicago & North Western system) and Springfield & Peoria Railroad (another C&NW predecessor). In 1925 it reached its northern terminus at Mitchell, Illinois some 20 miles north of the plant at Alorton. Here the railroad gained new connections with the Wabash Railroad and Chicago & Eastern Illinois.

In the mid-1960s then-Alcoa decided to sell the Alton and Southern Railway after it closed its plant at Alorton. Interestingly, just a few years before this the A&S had completed a major infrastructure project, Gateway Yard, which included a fully operational hump facility. In 1968 the railroad was split between the Missouri Pacific and Chicago & North Western, thus giving the A&S it's now classic logo. In the early 1970s Southern Pacific subsidiary St. Louis Southwestern Railway purchased the C&NW's ownership of the terminal line and remained owner until Union Pacific's purchase of the MP in 1982, and later the SP in 1996.

While the Alton and Southern Railway today still has numerous interchange partners at one point it had many, many more. For instance, before the mega-merger movement it interchanged traffic with the Baltimore & Ohio, C&EI, C&NW, CB&Q, GM&O, Illinois Central, Illinois Terminal, Louisville & Nashville, Manufacturers Railway, Missouri-Kansas-Texas (Katy), MP, Norfolk & Western, Pennsylvania Railroad, New York Central, St. Louis-San Francisco (Frisco), SSW, Southern, and finally the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. For more information about the Alton and Southern Railway please click here to visit their website.

Currently, most of the Alton & Southern's motive power consists of switchers although it does roster two road-switchers, GP38-2s. In any event, their entire fleet is currently EMD products.

Please Click Here To Return To The Main Shortlines Section

Alton and Southern Railway Diesel Locomotive Roster

Model Type	Road Number	Acquired	Quantity
SW1500	1500-1508, 1510-1517	1969-1971	17
MP15DC	1522	1980	1
GP38-2	2000-2001	1994	2

Alton and Southern Railway Steam Locomotive Roster

Finally, below is a steam locomotive roster of the A&S. For a more complete roster of the railroad please click here.

Road Number	Type	Wheel Arrangement
2, 10, 13, 15, 16, 18, 26	Mikado	2-8-2
6, 9, 12	Switcher	0-8-0
14	Switcher	0-10-0

For more reading on shortlines like the Alton and Southern Railway consider the book American Shortline Railway Guide from author Ed Lewis. The book has gone through several updated editions to keep up with the ever-changing world of the shortline industry. Today, the publication highlights almost 600 shortlines across the country with general background information about each (such as roster information, rail line history, radio frequencies, etc.). If you have any interest in shortlines you will very likely enjoy this book. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit the link below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.

Share Your Thoughts

Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below. Please note that while I strive to present the information as accurately as possible I am aware that there may be errors. If you have potential corrections the help is greatly appreciated.

Please Click Here To Return To The Main Shortlines Section

Related Reading