TP&W Local and Union Pacific MPECL 7-22-22

I never made it to the downtown library this afternoon, though I had planned to be there. 

As usual on Friday afternoon, I drove by Adams Street Yard to find Union Pacific's MPECL made up and ready to leave, though the crew may not have been aboard yet. UP 6151 had 46 cars, including SEVEN boxcars near the head end, and a block of nine empty coal cars on the rear. I decided it would be worth waiting for this one. 

Then I heard a horn in Bartonville...

I found a slow-moving freight running by Collier Yard with traffic I quickly identified as a TP&W local out of Mapleton. I headed it off at Sanitation Road, expecting it to stop and work the UP/KJRY interchange. Although the train did stop, it was a brief one to radio the TZPR for instructions from Iowa Junction in Peoria to P&PU Junction in East Peoria. 

I shot most of the train at Sanitation Road, but only included a brief runby of IMRR 2108. The entire 48-car train is shown at S. Darst Street.

As the TP&W train rolled by my camera, Union Pacific's MPECL departed Adams Street Yard. So I had to catch up with it. I hit I-474, exited onto Airport Road and turned left onto Kickapoo Creek Road, which is when I glanced back to see the approaching train. Although slow motorists risked getting to my favorite spot at W. Farmington Road, I made it in plenty of time. 

After bagging the UP train, I went to East Peoria, hoping to get the TP&W train one more time. I nearly made it too as it ran along the Peoria Sub approaching the East Peoria Yard. But I couldn't have parked the car and set up in time for quality video. 

- David P. Jordan