Amtrak Nos. 4 & 6 at Chillicothe, IL 7-10-24

It has been nearly a decade since I've seen Amtrak detouring along BNSF's Chillicothe Subdivision east of Galesburg, and that was a planned shift to due a bridge replacement project on the Mendota Subdivision. So when I learned that Amtrak Nos. 4 and 6 would be combined at Galesburg and rerouted over the ex-Santa Fe this afternoon, I had to be trackside. Amtrak Nos. 3 and 5 are expected to run the usual route later today. 


CAPTION: Due to a coal train derailment near Somonauk, Illinois, Amtrak No. 4, the Southwest Chief (Los Angeles CA to Chicago IL), and Amtrak No. 6, the California Zephyr (Emeryville CA to Chicago IL) were combined at Galesburg and detoured along the Chillicothe Subdivision at its namesake late-afternoon Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The ex-Santa Fe route was used by Amtrak's Southwest Chief regularly through July 1996. AMTK 147 and AMTK 199 led No. 4 while AMTK 72 and AMTK 29 were on No. 6, turned backwards when combined at the Amtrak depot in Galesburg. 

David P. Jordan

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