BNSF M-PEIGAL 10-1-22

Today, I had my first encounter with BNSF's M-PEIGAL since mid-July! 

Saturday's weather was great, but I almost didn't see this train. A false alarm nearly "derailed" this afternoon's adventure, but my determination (or Irish stubborness) helped me achieve what I wanted. 

I usually leave home for the downtown library late Saturday morning. Instead of I-74, I decided to take US 150 into East Peoria, enabling a quick glance at TP&W's yard. There were no locomotives visible, offering the possibility that a local was working somewhere nearby or across the river.

So I decided to check TZPR's yard. I quickly found BNSF's M-PEIGAL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Galesburg IL) strung out from the yard onto the East Lead. No power was on the Creve Coeur Team Track, so either an M-GALPEI had yet to arrive, or power had to be on the point of M-PEIGAL. I went to Bridge Junction in Peoria to confirm the latter was true.

But my mind works funny at times. An empty westbound coal train held the main just west of Darst Street. I didn't know if the train had just left TZPR or it had been sitting there awhile. You could say I assumed the latter. Morning sunlight can play tricks as well, and I didn't think M-PEIGAL power looked like it was running. I thought of the possibility that the empty coal train was holding until another M-GALPEI could clear into a siding (like Edwards). 

M-GALPEI ran on Thursday as usual, but I didn't know that this morning (operations had been off in recent weeks). 

I decided to park on Kramm Road, just west of Edwards, and wait. The temps were in the 60s, but sufficiently warm to lower my windows. When the large bee got in the second time, I had enough. Moments after turning left onto Route 8, the dreaded "low tire pressure" alert beeped, and I figured my day was shot.

I went to the dealership where I purchased my car, but the service department had just closed for the day. So I went to the one in Morton. They put some air in the offending tire, but concluded the warning light was likely (hopefully) due to a change in weather. 

I got home and noticed that a friend on social media reported the empty coal train got a track warrant to go west. I decided to head back into East Peoria and check M-PEIGAL. It was gone...

Suffice if to day, I needed to salvage my day. The manifest couldn't have left much earlier, and a slow run the first several miles ensured a chance to catch it. I decided to race up I-74, exit to Sterling Ave., get on Reservoir Blvd. and then parallel the BNSF line on Route 8.

When I got to Yates City, I heard some radio chatter (my scanner was set to the BNSF channel), and concluded the train could only be a short distance east or west of me. I took a gamble and went west, finding it stopped in Douglas. Radio chatter indicated the train had gone into emergency there. The crew stepped off and inspected some of the cars. All was okay, so the train resumed its journey. 

M-PEIGAL is shown in perfect sunlight just west of Douglas, Illinois mid-afternoon. BNSF 8374 and BNSF 8327 have 92 cars. The first 23 were from TZPR-served industries (Caterpillar, Komatsu, Alto Pekin/Alto ICP, Liberty Steel & Wire). The next 14 were from TP&W (one Mapleton, one and probably two from Gilman, and also some empty nitrogen tanks from Indiana). Seven (probably eight) after that were from TZPR (Alto Pekin/Alto ICP). A second cut from TP&W totalled 36 cars (Mapleton, Gilman and nitrogen empties from Indiana). Bringing up the rear were a dozen more cars from TZPR (wire rod load from Liberty Steel & Wire and eleven potash empties enroute back to Carlsbad, New Mexico). 

So of 92 cars, about 50 were from the TP&W! 

- David P. Jordan