Norfolk Southern D49 w/High-Hood, F-7A! Leaves w/3 D11s! 8-28-23

Norfolk Southern finally delivered the first of two F-7As to the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad late this morning!

I took Thursday off from work just to catch D49 do this, but the crew spent its day switching Rivian, classifying D32 and building D36. On Friday, NS 7014 and BUGX 402 were involved in a minor derailment at Good Yard. Finally, they made the run on Monday. An added present was NS 5194, a high-hood GP38-2, bound for Des Moines, was hauled to TZPR with the F-7A!

Today's TZPR delivery had typical traffic: steel coil loads for the Iowa Interstate but mostly empties for Liberty Steel & Wire, Caterpillar, Komatsu, Alto, BioUrja, Linde or Messer, and the KJRY. 

The appearance of Incobrasa Industries covered hoppers is this month. It seems the time I saw one on D49 (August 7), it was empty. But they're empty coming into East Peoria as well. Apparently, my glance at the pressed truck coil springs on the August 7 train was insufficient to confirm it as a load, but that is probably what it was. TP&W has public soybean meal tariffs effective February 1, 2023 for shipments from Gilman to [East] Peoria for NS interchange. Apparently, that is what Incobrasa recently started doing. 

CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway local D49 (Normal IL to East Peoria IL turn) is shown at Deer Creek, at N. Main near Morton and finally at East Peoria, Illinois on its run to interchange with the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad late morning Monday, August 28, 2023. NS 6975 has NS 5194, BUGX 402 and 53 cars. The high-hood is likely for Des Moines, Iowa which will move via Iowa Interstate. The BUGX 402, an F-7A, is going to BNSF and ultimately the Blackwell Northern Gateway RR in Kansas and Oklahoma. 

I went home and then returned in time to catch D49 leaving town. Two units I noticed were left on thr team track on Sunday were taken back to Good Yard. I don't know why these units were here, other than a possible grain shuttle. But there were no cars at ADM Grain Co's Hilliards elevator, so that wasn't the reason. Perhaps with D49's troubles late last week, NS ran an extra to East Peoria? Yet today's train looked like an accumulation of cars for the past few days. 

The outbound train had three Caterpillar D11 tractor loads for export, tallow and coil steel empties, a plastic load (probably from IMRR), a granulated slag load (also from IMRR), distillers mash, alcohol, steepwater, and a block of 19 empty covered hoppers typically assigned to distillers' mash service.

CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway local D49 makes rolls under the TP&W's Farmdale Trestle on the outskirts of East Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Monday, August 28, 2023. NS 6975, NS 9957 and NS 4589 have 50 cars. 

I saw BNSF Railway's M-GALPEI too late for video or pics, and even knew it was coming! But the Kickapoo Creek Valley has become such a Redwood Forest that it is easy to miss train movements. 

David P. Jordan