TP&W Storage Move, KJRY EP Turn 5-7-25

After work, I was planning on spending time at the downtown library. I did not think Norfolk Southern's D49 local would make the East Peoria trip as this morning it forward D36 to Holder (east of Bloomington) where it met the road crew. I'm thinking this is the D36 that should have left last evening, but was delayed for some reason. So D49 probably did not have time for much else than to classify D32 and work Rivian and/or Midwest Fiber.

But while down in East Peoria checking for any action, I heard radio chatter about tresspassers in the Wesley East area. So I went over there and found RCPE 3481 on the point of storage cars TP&W moved last week to make room for track work at its East Peoria Yard. 

CAPTION: The Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway pulled this string of 75 storage cars from Wesley East on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Pekin double track to its home yard in East Peoria late-afternoon Wednesday, May 7, 2025. RCPE 3481 was on the point. Initial scene is a meet with TZPR 1521 (probably "Industry 4" job) dragging distillers dried grain (DDG, or "mash") loads  to the ADM Grain Company dock on Wesley Road. Later, the whole train rolls by N. Main Street in East Peoria.

 

Before coming across the TP&W job at Wesley, I already noted that the Keokuk Junction Railway local was in East Peoria. I'd have a chance to see it depart, which it did a little after 1700 hours.

I did actually go to the library, hoping to find more information about the day P&PU moved its through truss bridge spanning Farm Creek on May 7, 1930. The Peoria Star ran a story the same day. I figured the Peoria Journal would have done so the next day. The poor condition of the scans may have been a factor, but I could find nothing. So I left and caught up with the KJRY local again at Hollis.

Note there were no cars were pulled from TP&W and/or Union Pacific at Collier Yard. The 20 Incobrasa covered hoppers on today's train (two on the head end, 18 on the rear) were received from TP&W via the Tazewell & Peoria RR. The boxcar looks like one used in locomotive wheel service out of Amsted Rail's Griffin Wheel Div. at Keokuk, Iowa returning empty. Perhaps interchange with those carriers is now done via TZPR? 

CAPTION: The Keokuk Junction Railway's East Peoria Turn is shown on its return leg back to Kolbe, Illinois late-afternoon/early-evening Wednesday, May 7, 2025. First scenes show our train crossing the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Illinois River Bridge. The whole train is shown at S. Darst Street in Peoria, Illinois on the TZPR's Southern Division. Later, the train has entered home rails at Hollis, just south of Bartonville. They did not stop to pull UP and/or TP&W interchange from Collier Yard. LTEX 3010, PREX 2003 and LTEX 3836 have 42 cars, all empties.

 

- David P. Jordan