Take the long way home. Despite its status as a high priority passenger special, UP OCS PJCME2 29 has encountered a plethora of TRRA-induced track maintenance during its brief trip through the St. Louis area. With the preferred route over the Mississippi via the MacArthur Bridge already out of the picture due to bridge deck demolition, the special was forced to detour "around the world" via the Merchants Bridge, adding ~15 miles to its trip. As it dropped off of the bridge into Illinois, the train encountered RJ Corman contractors in the midst of track work around SH Interlocking, as seen in this view. The delays caused by the long detour forced the train to lose nearly an hour worth of scheduled time, an unusual set of circumstances for a train with executives on board.
