Keokuk Junction Rwy. Local, BNSF Wind Tower Train 11-13-23

List,

Wind turbine trains are back!

I learned that BNSF was running a wind turbine tower train to Peoria late this morning, but wasn't going to leave work to see it. Had I gone to Wesley Road Hilliards (Creve Coeur) directly from work, I would have see it, though the mid-afternoon shadows may have been bad for photography or video. 

Anyway, I saw the train from Interstate 474, but having heard some radio chatter on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's mainline channel, I decided to investigate. Turns out, the Keokuk Junction Railway's weekly "East Peoria Turn" had just received dispatcher's instructions from Iowa Junction (on Peoria's far south edge) to East Peoria. Despite poor afternoon lighting, I captured a runby at Sanger Street. 


CAPTION: The Keokuk Junction Railway's East Peoria Turn is shown running on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad at Sanger Street in Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Monday, November 13, 2023. LTEX 3848, PREX 2003 and LTEX 6437 have 14 cars. 

I crossed the river and headed down Rt. 29 hoping to capture the wind turbine train. I found it stopped at Pekin with the locomotive already cut off from the train by the cemetery. No big deal as I've already captured BNSF wind tower trains. For today's train, I decided to be a little creative, showing the power move with the tower-laden flat cars in the background. 


CAPTION: The crew of U-MQAPEI (Unit Train, Minnequa CO to Peoria IL) cuts BNSF 1045 from a wind turbine tower train it had just brought into Peoria and across the river to the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's double track Pekin mainline Monday afternoon November 13, 2023. Unit switched to the other main, ran around the train, grabbed two other units and headed engine lite back to Galesburg. 

David P. Jordan
Morton, Illinois

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