Iowa Interstate SIPE, TP&W M-EPEF 10-22-23

I received a heads up early Sunday afternoon that a southbound Iowa Interstate freight had passed Mossville. So I headed into Peoria and encountered it near the Komatsu plant. I backtracked to the RiverPlex parking lot downtown and waited a few minutes before the train showed up. PMP Fermentation Products sure makes a good backdrop!

 

Today's train was short.

The GEVOs were split up with 518 coupled to an empty potash train (PEDAV) at Wesley. The 506 took PESI out of town, probably after dark. 

CAPTION: Iowa Interstate manifest SIPE (Silvis IL to Peoria IL) rolls by PMP Fermentation Products in downtown Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Sunday, October 22, 2023. Later, it is at South Street just before crossing the river. Both scenes are on Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Uptown Division. IAIS 518 and IAIS 506 have 26 cars. 

Earlier, I noticed a TP&W crew putting together a rather lengthy manifest in the East Peoria Yard. I figured an extra switch crew was on duty and that a road crew would take the train east after dark. I'm glad I returned and waited, because the train left East Peoria about 1715 hours, with sufficient lighting for video. 

Notably, the Incobrasa Industries-marked, UTLX-owned tank cars appeared loaded. Twice, recently, I've seen blocks of these being given to the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad. You'd think these cars would be loaded going west, and are for interchange to either BNSF, Union Pacific or both. 

Now, I'm wondering if they were spotted at Cargill Oil Storage (C/O MacroSource, ex-Gavilon) for loading. Weird, since Incobrasa manufactures its own soybean oil, but perhaps they can sell all that they can produce at Gilman, and got a good deal on soybean oil for use at the biodiesel facility? Another possibility is that the cars are just being used by Cargill Oil Storage for shipment to CSX destinations, and have nothing to do with Incobrasa?

The train had 33 gondolas with markings which indicate they are assigned to Liberty Steel & Wire. None had coiled wire rod loads, so they must all contain steel billets consigned to Georgetown, South Carolina. There are all-rail (TPW-CSX) and barge-truck movements. Perhaps low water on the Mississippi River has forced a shift to rail?

CAPTION: Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway train M-EPEF (Manifest, E. Peoria IL to Effner IL) rolls across the famous Farmdale Trestle late-afternoon Sunday, October 22, 2023. HESR 3485, TPW 2105, IORY 5014 and TPW 5009 have 130 cars. 

- David P. Jordan