Peoria Station

Late Sunday afternoon, I caught this TP&W westbound manifest at Cruger. HESR 2107, IMRR 1550 and HESR 3485 have 68 cars. This train is running from Effner to East Peoria. Train is slowing for a 10 mph speed restriction west of Cruger. Notable traffic on this train includes head end blocks of twelve and five phosphate loads separated by two empty tank cars. Four more empty tank cars and there's a 25-car block of grain, presumably for ADM (Bio Ujra) in Peoria. After a plastic empty, there is a block of mostly loaded tank cars of various commodities, including methylamine anhydrous, fuel oil, herbicide and maybe one corn syrup car. Bringing up the rear is a CSX gondola loaded with scrap metal, probably consigned to Liberty Steel & Wire in Bartonville.  The herbicide (or insecticide?) tank cars are interesting. They look bigger than the ones normally consigned to Fort Transfer Co in Morton and those are routed CN-Peoria-TPW. Perhaps these are for Mapleton, or Fort Transfer is g...

Sunshine, warmer weather and the Iowa Interstate! Iowa Interstate Railroad manifest PESI (Peoria IL to Silvis IL) pulls through Wesley late morning Sunday, February 27, 2022. By early afternoon, it departs the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard. Scenes show it crossing the TZPR's Illinois River Bridge, rolling across Main Street in downtown Peoria and finally, the whole train is shown rolling by San Koty (MP 154.2). IAIS 516, IAIS 702 has NS 5077 and 81 cars. Six were loads - four steel pellet and two beverage alcohol. - David P. Jordan

Peoria International Airport handled nearly a half million passengers in 2021! According to a post made to the airport's website February 14 , the local facility handled 480,006 passengers last year. That's an improvement over 2020's depressed 326,861 but still far below 2019's record 689,416. It is unclear if PIA will ever reach this volume again as recent "pandemic" restrictions may have permanently reduced business travel in favor of videoconferencing. Experts are often wrong, but recovery will take years if at all.  I should also note that air cargo volume increased from 17 million pounds in 2020 to 20 million pounds in 2021. Almost all of this traffic was handled by United Parcel Service flights operating most nights between Rockford, Peoria and Louisville.  - David P. Jordan

Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolled across W. Farmington Road shortly after departing Peoria, Illinois late afternoon Friday, February 25, 2022. UP 5394 has 56 cars. Adams Street Yard was empty when the train departed. So unlike recent weeks, Tonnage Per Axle (TPA) restrictions didn't require cars were left behind. Usual traffic like coiled wire rod, distillers' grain mash, corn syrup and locomotive wheels were absent, creating a train of almost all tank cars. The last car, an empty centerbeam flat car, is odd to see on the Peoria Subdivision and doesn't appear to be used as a haz-mat buffer.  Now this was no unit train - alcohol loads were joined by empties of different dimensions and capacities last containing corn syrup, inedible beef tallow, molten petroleum asphalt and phosphoric acid.  - David P. Jordan

Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) has just entered the Peoria Sub main at Peoria Junction late-afternoon Tuesday, February 22, 2022. UP 7765 has 51 cars. The lone boxcar, mid-train, belongs to Ferrocarril del Sureste, a Mexican carrier better known as "Ferrosur." The line links Mexico City with Veracruz. The car probably contains locomotive wheels shipped from Amsted Rail/Griffin Wheel Corp's Keokuk, Iowa foundry but whether the destination is on FSRR isn't clear.  - David P. Jordan

After work today, I decided to check out that newly-rebuilt elevator siding at Forrest. I knew TP&W's eastbound M-Train was likely to be running so I thought it best to take I-74 to Bloomington, then I-55 to Chenoa, guaranteeing my arrival at Forrest with sufficient daylight for photopgraphy. Boy did my plans change! As I neared Normal, I caught some brief chatter on Norfolk Southern's radio channel (161.145 MHz). I missed the exit for Rivian Motorway, which was fortunate, because after entering I-55 southbound, I could see an NS freight departing Good Yard. I heard the crew tell the Union Pacific dispatcher that they'd be at BN Target in "ten or fifteen minutes," so I parked near Market Street (good afternoon lighting) and waited but a few minutes before Decatur-bound D36 went by. NS 3338 and NS 3375, running elephant-style, have 49 cars. The train slowed as it approached BN Target, but the Union Pacific dispatcher has given permission to cross his mainline. ...

This was unexpected. A Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway local delivers a short transfer to the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad (TZPR) late Sunday morning, February 20, 2022. TPW 5010, TZPR 2133 and TPW 3443 have two 89' flat cars laden with SDI USA stick rail for an unknown project. Norfolk Southern has trackage rights to serve SDI USA's Columbia City, Indiana mill from Fort Wayne so this traffic could have been routed NS-direct to East Peoria. For some reason (lower rates?), these cars were routed NS-Logansport-TPW instead. This is a more direct route anyway... I hope to find out what this rail is for. It is enough for a siding, yard track or industry spur of decent length. Grade crossing replacement is possible as well. It will be interesting to know whether these loads are consigned to TZPR or are going further (Illinois & Midland RR). - David P. Jordan

I left Peoria's far south side before hearing the Union Pacific dispatcher give MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) track warrants go north. When I arrived W. Farmington Road (the best location for sunshine this time of year), the position light signal displayed yellow in both directions. Within minutes (about 4:30 pm), the southbound signal turned red, which meant the northbound turned green. I figured MPECL had the line up from Peoria Junction. And yet I waited for more than 45 minutes. Impatient, I left and headed down Kickapoo Creek Road to find the train coming! Fortunately, it was crawling, so I was able to turn around and return to my prior location in time for video. UP 5394 had 69 cars. The train stalled shortly after I shot this scene. About 15 cars were left behind at Adams Street. I know that I see this train a lot, and share the video here. But it is generally predictable, and I've wanted to monitor traffic in hopes that Union Pacific pivots to growth. There ...

On Friday, November 19, 2021, I shot video of TP&W 5009 delivering four loaded herbicide tank cars to Fort Transfer Company in Morton. Nearly three months later, TP&W 5008 came to fetch the same cars, which were likely all emptied many weeks ago! TP&W 5008 ran on Norfolk Southern's Bloomington District to Crandall then on the Morton Industrial Spur (or Lead?). I caught it approaching Jefferson Street. It didn't take long for the crew to couple onto those empty tank cars and pull them to the old "yard" short of N. Main Street where they ran around for the shove back to Crandall. Scenes on the above video are in Morton, Crandall Junction and on Norfolk Southern's Bloomington District at N. Main Street. See captions with each scene. It is sad to see so little activity on this line, but at least there is some activity... - David P. Jordan

I checked Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) this afternoon after work to see if things had gotten back to "normal." It appears that either traffic is up, winter weather from two weeks ago is still affecting the carrier's carload network, or both.  Video shows MPECL rolling by W. Farmington Road shortly after departing Peoria, Illinois at 1639 hours. UP 7765 has 70 cars. A cut of 14 or 15 dry sorbent cars from the Illinois & Midland RR (via Tazewell & Peoria Railroad) were left behind at Adams Street Yard, mostly likely due to TPA (Tonnage Per Axle).   I know the Keokuk Junction Railway ran an eastbound road freight Friday at an earlier time that usual, so they delivered cars to UP either later that afternoon or on Monday. The Illinois & Midland Railroad had a bunch of dry sorbent cars for UP early in the week as well. Then you have the regular traffic from TZPR- and TP&W-served industries.  - David P. Jordan

Although out of our immediate area, I'm sharing this encounter because it is a good news story. I went to Bloomington-Normal after work this afternoon hoping to intercept Norfolk Southern's eastbound local, D49, before it arrived Good Yard. But I did catch Union Pacific's southbound Joliet Subdivision local, LSF54, rolling by Uptown Station in Normal as daylight was fading rapidly.  UP 1066, an ex-Southern Pacific GP60, and UP 1498, an ex-Cotton Belt (St. Louis-Southwestern) GP40-2 resplendent in Armour Yellow, have 26 cars from three local industries up north.  All were empty. The first three cars last contained grain products (gluten feed pellets, soybean meal, gluten meal, etc.) and were pulled from Prairie Creek Grain Co 's Elwood elevator, which receives these products, transfers contents from railcars to ocean containers then drays them to are intermodal terminals (such as Union Pacific-served Joliet Intermodal Terminal) for export.  The next two were tank cars pu...

I left for church early today so I could check out if Iowa Interstate train PESI was getting close to departure. I missed SIPE's arrive with three Norfolk Southern geeps, but found IAIS power with the PESI crew aboard running through the TZPR's East Peoria Yard. They planned to pulled those three NS geeps across W. Washington Street then shove them along the Nickel Plate and leave them on the Creve Coeur Team Track. But they were instructed to wait for a TP&W local enroute back to East Peoria. I got gas up in Creve Coeur and came back to find the TP&W train running on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Nickel Plate Division, and two IAIS and three NS geeps waiting at W. Washington Street. I parked with just a few minutes to spare before TPW 3440, HESR 3485 and TPW 5010 rolled by with 33 grain empties from ADM South Yard.  Moments after the TP&W local cleared, Iowa Interstate PESI's crew with IAIS 711 and 703 and three Norfolk Southern geeps (5317-5077-5174...

Because Adams Street Yard was full Tuesday even after MPECL's departure, I knew I had to investigate what Friday's train would bring. When I arrived Peoria's south side, I quickly noticed that connecting traffic from KJRY, TP&W and TZPR (including IMRR interchange) had been built into a monster train, which by 1530 hours had been strung out along the Low Line and along Adams Street Yard. As I waited for its expected departure around 1600, I saw an empty westbound BNSF Railway coal train run by.  The chance to see two trains at my favorite location was too good to pass up, so I drove to W. Farmington Road and waited. Sure enough, minutes later, BNSF 9182 and BNSF 6346 rolled by with 133 empty GGPX hoppers. BNSF 6046 brings up the rear as DPU.  GGPX cars belong to General American Marks (GATX Corporation). These markings aren't the usual equipment seen on BNSF's Peoria Subdivision so I don't know if this was an empty coal train from Kincaid or Edwards power pl...

Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls across W. Farmington Road shortly after departing Adams Street Yard in Peoria, Illinois late afternoon Tuesday, February 8, 2022. UP 7765 has 58 cars, including two depressed center flat cars and three Caterpillar tractor loads. The depressed center flats are likely the same ones which moved on MPECL last Tuesday. That train stalled on the double track at Reservoir Blvd, thanks to wet rails and a single locomotive pulling more loads than usual. Reportedly, the crew split the train and planned to combine it at Edelstein Siding. Apparently, they made it to Clinton with one section. I noticed these flats at Adams Street Yard (along with other cars) on Sunday, when it its normally empty.  A southbound grain train is reported to be holding at Nelson for MPECL's passage. Another train (stored?) is in the siding at Manlius, which requires MPECL to pass at 10 mph due to the Caterpillar tractor high-wide dimensional loads....

Spirit Airlines A-319 (top) and Frontier Airlines A-320 (bottom) are shown in final approach to Chicago-O'Hare International Airport on Saturday, June 29, 2019 Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines plan to merge.  Denver, Colorado-based Frontier and Miramar, Florida-based Spirit announced the deal this morning . The $6.6 billion deal to combine the nation's two largest Ultra-Low Cost Carriers (ULCC) will, if approved by regulators, create its fifth-largest airline.  Frontier Airlines' owners will control 51.5 percent of the merged airline while Spirit will own 48.5 percent. This may mean the carrier will retain the Frontier name.  Interestingly, Indigo had once controlled Spirit Airlines but divested of that carrier in July 2013. It acquired Frontier at the end of the year. Both carriers rely on a fleet of Airbus twin jets. Frontier operates A-320 and A-321s while Spirit has A-319, A-320 and A-321s.  LOCAL ANGLE Frontier Airlines offers seasonal nonstops out of Bloom...

I left work at 3:00 Monday afternoon, got some groceries and put $30 worth of gas in my fuel tank then drove to Peoria's south side to find BNSF Railway train M-GALPEI (Manifest, Galesburg IL to Peoria IL) just arriving! The time was 3:51pm.  I wanted to check on the earlier M-GALPEI that was sitting in the New Long Sunday. I figure this train had been there since at least Friday. After reading a friend's note that it was still there as of 12:45 this afternoon, I hoped a crew had been called to drive down and bring it in. Normal day of operation would have been Thursday, but I wonder if the recent blizzard delayed it at least one day. Anyway, BNSF 1592-1434-1775 had 44 cars.  Monday's M-GALPEI arrived with BNSF 6587-4998 and 47 cars. The crew radioed the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's St. Albans Dispatcher and then the MOP (Manager of Operations) for instructions. It was suggested they might prefer to bring in today's train, then drive back to Peoria via crew van ...

I checked this morning on my way to church, and what do I see hanging out onto TP&W's Peoria Sub TPW 5010 and TPW 3442, running long hood forward, have 50 cars. Breakdown was 25 corn for ADM South Yard in Peoria and 25 manifest for TZPR). As for the latter, it was mostly nitrogen fertilizer solution and alcohol empties but with one soybean meal load. On my way home, I did some exploring and found a Tazewell & Peoria Railroad running from Kickapoo Yard to East Peoria. It is shown at S. Darst Street. TZPR 1521 has 23 cars. Breakdown is 12 scrap metal or steel ingot empties, eight wire rod loads and three DDGS/mash loads. Cars 6, 9 and 10 had Ferromex lettering (FXE), and are reported to have arrived East Peoria via BNSF loaded with steel ingots. I guess Liberty Steel & Wire found a good deal in Mexico? - David P. Jordan

Ahead of the winter storm, I decided to check on Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA). When I arrived, the crew was kicking out several cars (including two wire rod loads), apparently to reduce tonnage. UP 5394 has 50 cars, including a Caterpillar D10T tractor load (7th car) and two empty depressed center flats. Despite reducing the train prior to departure, slick rails caused it to stall at Reservoir Blvd. So I'm glad I shot video as it passed the old Molitor Junction area just south of Harman Highway.  - David P. Jordan