BNSF M-PEIGAL 6-23-25

Despite the heat, I was aware that BNSF's M-GALPEI arrived Peoria sometime in late-morning or early-afternoon, and knew I had a chance to see M-PEIGAL flip back west. Sure enough, shortly after I veered off I-474 onto SW Adams and then SW Washington streets, I picked up radio chatter giving the BNSF train permission to depart the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard for Galesburg. 

Driving my desire to catch this train was that 30 years ago today, June 23, 1995, I caught its predecessor's eastbound leg. Burlington Northern local 13814 had one locomotive (BN 1596, a GP28P normally assigned to Northtown Yard in Minneapolis, Minnesota) and 14 cars on that day. One car was delivered to Caterpillar's tire plant and an empty was pulled and blocked on the rear of the 39-car outbound train left on the New Long Main (just west of Darst Street). Low lighting and low quality camera notwithstanding, I'm glad I recorded this encounter three decades ago!

Back to the present, right behind the Komatsu chassis load, note the number of Caterpillar high-wide loads on today's train. That is the most I've seen in awhile. Besides six D9s, we had two D10s with undercarriages on separate flat cars.

CAPTION: BNSF Railway train M-PEIGAL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Galesburg IL) is first shown on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad moments before entering home rails at  S. Darst Street in Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Monday, June 23, 2025. Later, the train races by W. Farmington Road. BNSF 5977 and BNSF 4026 have 35 cars.

 

- David P. Jordan