Peoria Station

I checked on Union Pacific's MPECL and found it leaving a little before 4:00 this afternoon.  It is shown crossing W. Farmington Road at 1609 hours. UP 7677 has just 16 cars. - David P. Jordan

As usual for Tuesday afternoon, I checked on Union Pacific train MPECL. Video shows it rolling by Milepost 80 shortly after departing Adams Street Yard. UP 5368 has 51 cars. A block of covered hoppers near the head end were empties, so I don't know if these came out of storage on a connecting shortline or what.  - David P. Jordan

Saturday afternoon, April 23, 2022, Canadian National Railway local L525 switched two customers at a small industrial park on Decatur, Illinois' northeast side. GTW 4934 and IC 3117 spotted a load and pulled an empty from Morgan Distributing Inc., and dug out three empties left by Parke Toll Packing & Blending, before shoving down the line. It was good to see CN running on it own line for a chance. I've seen Decatur Junction Railway (DT) and even the Decatur & Eastern Illinois RR running on a portion of this line. Even better, watching a Class I servicing an industry on a branchline is irresistable! Research reveals that Morgan Distributing Inc. opened its facility here in 1954, followed by Ring Can Corp. in 1984 and Parke-Toll Packing & Blending in 1996. The last one must have a trackmobile to move cars to and from CN's preferred pickup/setout spot.  The industrial lead serving these industries diverges from the former Illinois Central Railroad line to White He...

S ince I go into Peoria most weekday afternoons anyway, I decided to shoot Union Pacific train MPECL if it left around the usual time. Sure enough, It departed around 4:15 and I recorded this scene as it rolled by the old Molitor Junction (Milepost 80, just south of Harman Highway). UP 8221 had 30 cars, including two hi-cube boxcars at the rear. - David P. Jordan

More misses than hits today... At 3:35 or so, I saw a monster Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) strung out onto the Low Line, preparing for departure. But other activity nearly distracted my attention - An empty BNSF coal train going west and the Keokuk Junction Railway's East Peoria-bound local. I missed the latter in hopes of catching the former and MPECL. Naturally, a decision to drive Kickapoo Creek Road instead of I-474 and a slow driver killed my one chance to capture both trains together at the W. Farmington Road crossing! Aaaaargh! I had to drive north to Milepost 59 to capture MPECL. At the video link, you will see MPECL rolling by the north end of 12,000-foot Edelstein Siding late this afternoon. UP 5758 and UP 6493 have 97 cars, mainly due to a big block of dry sorbent empties and coal cars. - David P. Jordan

BNSF units 1409-1706-1592 stayed on the Creve Coeur Team Track all weekend. Apparently, no M-PEIGAL ran on Friday. So after spending a little time at the downtown library this afternoon, I crossed the river and found a crew van pulling away from those units. Simultaneously, I heard the TZPR St. Albans Dispatcher give instructions which sound like they were directed to an outbound crew. At first, I assumed 1409-1706-1592 would move from the team track to the yard to put its train together. Minutes later, a short M-GALPEI appeared on the East Lead after crossing the river and then entered the yard. So I jumped to conclusions. Anyway, I was able to shoot the arriving BNSF "local" from Wesley Road as it passed the TZPR diesel shop. BNSF 2556 and BNSF 1404 have just 19 cars. These units tied up on the team track as well. So now you have two sets of manifest power and a set of Dash 9s in between, which probably brought in an empty ADM feed pellet train.  - David P. Jordan

After seeing the evidence of that rare BNSF DIRECT DELIVERY to Union Pacific early Thursday evening, I figured it prudent to catch Union Pacific train MPECL on Friday. It left a little earlier than usual, so it was a good thing I arrived early.  Anyway, I caught MPECL at Milepost 80, where the old Molitor Junction used to be. UP 7925 has 46 cars. CBFX 354699, a covered hopper set out be BNSF to the Union Pacific Thursday evening, is the 21st car, and is right behind the train's only boxcar. This means the LPD01 crew pulled it, placed it on the head end of the TZPR interchange cut and then put KJRY interchange behind the locomotive.  - David P. Jordan