Mark Liszewski's St. Louis, Troy & Eastern Railroad (StLT&E)

St. Louis, Troy & Eastern Railroad (StLT&E)

About the StLT&E:

The St. Louis, Troy & Eastern Railroad is an HO scale model railroad depicting the former Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad (GM&O) line from Venice, Illinois (near St. Louis) to Springfield, Illinois. The time period is the early to mid-1970s. Major features include the “Tri Cities” area of Venice, Madison, and Granite City, Illinois. There is the former GM&O yard in Venice, the trackage running parallel to State St in Madison, and the railroad junction (WR) in Granite City. American Steel Foundries located in Granite City is featured along with a representation of Granite City Steel. The Granite City Steel works includes a blast furnace along with supporting infrastructure which comprises the large steel mill.

Located across Niendringhaus Ave from American Steel is WR tower which controls the junction from the rail lines coming from the North and the Terminal Railroad which runs down State St into Madison and the lines heading south towards Venice. North of Granite City, just past the I-270 overpass is Lenox tower located near Mitchell, Illinois. From there the rail lines split with lines headed towards Alton, Illinois and lines continuing North East.

The trackage from Lenox tower down past WR tower was owned by multiple railroads. These include the GM&O which merged with the Illinois Central Railroad in the early 1970s to form the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. During this time period, it was common to see GM&O, IC, and new ICG equipment. Other tenant railroads using these lines include; Penn Central, Missouri Pacific, and Burlington Northern. There is also a parallel rail line from Lenox to WR that is owned by the Norfolk & Western Railroad.

Trackage through Madison, along State Street is owned by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis.

The upper level of the layout features Springfield, Illinois including some trackage down the middle of 3rd Street. The small towns of Girard, Illinois and Virden, Illinois will also be featured on the upper level. The upper level is predominately all GM&O (ICG) trackage across central Illinois.

Railroads represented:

Illinois Central Gulf (ICG), Gulf, Mobile & Ohio (GM&O), Illinois Central (ICRR)

Penn Central (PC), New York Central (NYC) and Pennsylvania (PRR)

Missouri Pacific (MP), Chicago & Eastern Illinois RR (C&EI)

Burlington Northern (BN), Burlington (CB&Q), Great Northern (GN), Northern Pacific (NP)

Norfolk & Western (NW)

Terminal Railroad Association (TRRA)

Illinois Terminal Railroad Company (ITRR)

Amtrak

Layout statistics:

Mainline trackage: approximately 360 feet.

Secondary mainline: approximately 130 feet.

Rolling stock: 80 locomotives

360 freight cars

30 passenger cars

Controls: Digitrax: Digital Command Control (DCC)

Fun Fact:

The St. Louis, Troy & Eastern was a real railroad! It was part of the Illinois Terminal Railroad. (The ITRR was eventually absorbed by the Norfolk and Western in the 1990s.) The old track roadbed is now part of the Madison County Trail system. You can walk and bike on the old StLT&E! Part of it runs behind the homes on Sugarmill Rd. At the trailhead where it connects to Sugarmill, this area was once known as Troy Junction. The StLT&E ran west from here through Maryville down to the yard in Madison (School House Trail), and East to Edwardsville (over route 162 and up past Lowes in Glenn Carbon.

Layout Visitor’s Etiquette

Would you want a guest in your home to pick up everything, to look it over without first asking, or perhaps put down wet glass on a nicely polished wood table? Of course not! The rules of good etiquette one observes as a house guest also apply when visiting a model railroad.

• Never pick up anything. If you need a better view, ask the owner for permission. Many of the models have fine details which can be fragile and easily broken if not handled properly.

• Never lean on a layout. It might fall down!

• Do not touch, scratch, feel or move anything. Again, many fine details and fragile parts. Most scale models today or manufactured in limited runs. They are not easily replaced.

• If you see someone violating the rules, remind him.

• Don’t be so quick to point out a “better way.”

• Be tolerant of scale and skills. If you can’t say something nice, well … silence is golden.

• Sign the guest book and thank the host and hostess.

• Respect the host’s property, both inside and outside his home.

• Do not dominate the host’s time. Others may have questions or comments, too. The same goes for the best viewing area. Let everyone enjoy the layout.

• Ask permission to take photographs. Any photos you take are for your own personal use and are not to be sold or used commercially. Commercial photo rights belong to the layout owner. Remember that others want to see the layout too. Don’t block aisle ways when photographing.

• Above all, don’t be so serious! This is, after all, a hobby and it is fun!