Railfanning in St. Louis

Hello All,
In August, I have a cross country train trip planned, and one of my stops will be St. Louis. I plan to do railfanning there.
1. Where in St. Louis can I get good shots of trains, especially ones with the Arch in the background?

2. WHICH neighborhoods should I stay out of. I'm aware that St. Louis has a very high crime rate in a lot of parts.

thanks.

If you have time, I would plan on a visit to our Museum of Transportation--great collection of steam, diesel & traction equipment.


http://transportmuseumassociation.org/

A TRRA line runs through the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (where the Arch is located), if you have a (zoom) lens in the 28-50 mm range there are options there in the moring with the Arch as background, the area it is quite safe.

http://maps.google.nl/maps?rlz=1T4GGLR_ ... =en&tab=wl

As to railfanning: try Valley Junction across the misissippi in the East St. Louis are, is not as near as dangerous as some want others to believe (good in the erly moring and in the afternoon, but stay away when dark), also try the Broadway viaduct in Venice IL, it offers a good view at the main TRRA yard, whas there for several hours no hassle.

And yes try the Museum of transportation.

To the southwest there is a town named Pacific where the UP (busy) and BNSF (not so busy) run parallel for several miles.

And try this one

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/StLouisRailfans/

A very friendly bunch which gave me ample information, so do a little searching in the messages you will find enough to stay for months. I have put up quite a lot of questions in 2007/2008 when preparing a trip to St. Louis myself. I put up a trip report.

Just my two euro cents

Gijs van Appeldoorn