{"id":443,"date":"2021-04-30T11:21:14","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T16:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/laiben.com\/wordpress1\/?page_id=443"},"modified":"2026-01-11T12:13:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T18:13:48","slug":"derby","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/laiben.com\/wordpress1\/derby\/","title":{"rendered":"Derby Junction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Prototype…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Derby is a small community situated at the historic crossing of the Illinois Southern Railway and the Mississippi River & Bonne Terre line. After the two systems were merged, the M-I maintained a two-track yard here, recognizing the strategic importance of the junction. Derby served as a key interchange between the predominantly east\u2013west Ste. Genevieve Subdivision and the largely north\u2013south Bonne Terre (BT) Subdivision, which penetrated the Old Lead Belt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Layout adaptation…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Derby Junction includes a run-around and a two-track yard that together form the southern terminus of operations on the layout. Were the railroad ever extended, the next point south would be Bismarck\u2014eight miles farther\u2014where the M-I interchanged with MoPac\u2019s DeSoto Sub. For now, MoPac interchange traffic is set out at Derby, where it awaits pickup by the MoPac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operating sessions typically begin with northbound Local No. 92 staged at Derby Junction. The road crew reports for duty, gathers the interchange cuts, and begins sorting and switching according to the day\u2019s traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interchange business at Derby Jct is bricked with much of the traffic bound for the MoPac. The Valley Dolomite Company in Desloge ships high-quality dolomite to Illinois steel mills for use in blast-furnace flux. Additional traffic includes gondolas of chat<\/strong><\/a> from St. Joseph Lead Co. at Bonne Terre. Chat finds wide use\u2014in concrete aggregate, roadstone, railroad ballast, and metallurgical fluxing\u2014making it a steady, high-volume commodity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operators may spot the tan \u201cmountain\u201d on the backdrop: it represents the enormous chat pile near Flat River, rising more than 30 stories and visible for miles!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Crews board Train #92 here at Derby Junction and begin switching the 2 track yard. The Yardman Tavern is a scratchbuilt styrene piece by Bill Yancy which I acquired after he changed operating eras. It fits nicely here as a place for crews to grab breakfast before their shift. Bill had northern beer advertising signs which I changed to more common midwestern flavors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Note the background chat pile several miles away. We used to play on these as kids. Since then, the EPA has remediated the area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Track schematic for Derby Jct.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prototype… Derby is a small community situated at the historic crossing of the Illinois Southern Railway and the Mississippi River & Bonne Terre line. After the two systems were merged, the M-I maintained a two-track yard here, recognizing the strategic … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-443","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/laiben.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/laiben.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/laiben.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/laiben.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/laiben.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"http:\/\/laiben.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2198,"href":"http:\/\/laiben.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/443\/revisions\/2198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/laiben.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}