TP&W Collier Turn, Union Pacific MPECL Switches Akron Services! 9-20-22

I was torn between several potential encounters this afternoon. I never even made it to the downtown library...

After work, I get into town as soon as possible since Union Pacific's MPECL crew is called for 1500 hours. Just before exiting I-474 for SW Adams Street, I noticed a TP&W local waiting at Iowa Junction and a TZPR switch crew working Collier Yard. Adams Street Yard was empty, but when I passed the entrance, I noticed a short train pulling in via the TZPR connection at Darst Street. Presumably, this was the LPD01 crew about to hand off to the road crew. 

No sooner did I park off Darst Street, I noticed the approaching TP&W local, probably the East Peoria-Collier Turn. Video shows it rolling across the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad bridge in mid-afternoon. TPW 2105 has 28 cars.

At this point, I heard some chatter about a CN local (L557 runs to Decatur on Tuesdays) and that Iowa Interstate's SIPE was probably due shortly. My decision to follow the short UP train was determined by chatter about pulling three empties from Akron Services, a rather rare occurence! 

I shot the train at W. Farmington Road around 1620 hours. UP 6365 and UP 7059 had ten cars. Despite a green signal, the train took awhile to roll by my position. Due to heat, there may have been slow orders in effect, though there was no apparent restriction when it rolled by me.

(An empty BNSF coal train was holding the main under the SW Adams Street viaduct, which I expected to show before the UP train; instead a hi-rail truck, moving in reverse, rolled by. It was off the rails sitting at Pottstown a short time later, indicating the coal empties were moving. I didn't stick around, as I was trying to catch up to MPECL before Akron.)

After waiting for what seemed a long while (more slow orders?), the train stopped at Akron Services to pull three anhydrous ammonia empties. Don't miss this scene - the crew shoves the ENTIRE train into the siding to fetch these cars. In the final scene, the now 13-car train rolled by a southbound Powerton-bound coal train at Edelstein, Illinois.

- David P. Jordan