Peoria Station

Normally, I drive straight to the downtown library on Wednesdays after work. But scanner chatter and a visual, kept me monitoring TP&W action at the west end of its East Peoria Yard instead. I stuck around long enough to capture a power move to the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard. The units were going to the diesel shop, but tie replacement work on the Nickel Plate Division required a detour through the yard itself. TPW 3442, TPW 2070, TPW 5008, TPW 1539 and HESR 3485. Later, I learned that Iowa Interstate manifest SIPE (Silvis IL to Peoria IL) had passed Mossville at 1815 hours. I was in Creve Coeur, so I couldn't intercept the train before it reached ten mph territory in The Narrows. The sunset promised long shadows. One thing I hate is partial light and shadows for pics and video, so I picked all shadows in the Bond Street area near downtown.  IAIS 506 and IAIS 153 have 117 cars, mostly loads containing corn, soybeans, distillers' grain, potash, and...

My first encounter with a Canadian National Heritage Unit! Canadian National train L557 (E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) rolls by Hilliards (Creve Coeur), Illinois early evening Tuesday, August 30, 2022. CN 3115, the BCRail Heritage Unit, and CN 3052 have 20 cars. Nothing unusual except IAIS 7451, a loaded covered hopper 8th in consist. I'm going to assume it contains some organic (non-GMO) grain.  - David P. Jordan

My first video, taken August 27, 2002 - TWENTY years ago today! I was in Galesburg hoping to see the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus train when a potash train entered the Peoria line. The circus train was already in town, but stopped for a crew change and to rest and water the elephants, so I knew I had time to chase the potash train. I went as far as Yates City then turned around and managed to get the circus train leaving Galesburg for the Quad Cities! Much has changed in 20 years. Most significant for the train shown above is that potash trains from Saskatchewan have been routed via Canadian Pacific to Davenport, Iowa and then Iowa Interstate to Peoria since 2013.  And all these years later, I still record local train operations on video. I even got one today! After several hours of looking through Peoria Journal Transcripts from March 1942, my brain had turned to mush, and I needed a break. Through social media, I learned that a southbound Union Pacific grain e...

Lightning doesn't strike twice in the same week. Briefly today, it looked like it might.  When I drove over SW Adams Street around 3:40 pm, I noticed Union Pacific train MPECL moving underneath, but also an empty BNSF coal train holding the main. Thinking of the possibilities, I turned around and drove to my usual W. Farmington Road spot.   Soon, the Union Pacific train had the green signal, and I actually thought I might be able to repeat Tuesday's encounter. The BNSF train appeared first, crawling. I was afraid MPECL would pass before the BNSF train cleared. BNSF 9300 and BNSF 6625 were on the point. BNSF 8530 brought up the rear as DPU.    The BNSF coal empties cleared with still no MPECL in sight. Naturally, I grew impatient and drove down Kickapoo Creek Road. Predictably, I saw it rolling by Milepost 80 (just south of Harmon Highway), so I turned around and returned to my prior spot.  Finally at 4:45 pm, Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Cli...

A Norfolk Southern Railway extra delivered 83 grain empties to the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad at Wesley (Creve Coeur), Illinois early this evening. This is the third such train for interchange to the Iowa Interstate Railroad and loading at Landus Co-operative's Adair, Iowa elevator. NS 4149, NS 9459, NS 7584 and NS 4576 were on the point. Several scenes show the train at N. Main Street in East Peoria and then crossing the river to wye onto the Pekin Main at Wesley. It isn't common to see a Norfolk Southern crew take their train into Peoria proper!  The final scene shows the whole train at N. Main Street in East Peoria.  - David P. Jordan

  I've seen something similar with my own eyes three times prior, but was never able to capture this kind of action on video.  As background, I've retained a memory from age four, probably in 1978, of seeing C&NW and BN merchandise trains simultaneously at the W. Farmington Road crossing. Mom was driving us home from taking my older brother to school when we stopped to wait on a northbound Chicago & North Western freight. Suddenly, Mom yelled with excitement, "There's another train!" It was going south (geographically), and had to be a Burlington Northern train (which we'd see between cars of the C&NW train). My recollection was of manifest traffic, so this might have been a late No. 104 from Galesburg.  Thirty-three years passed before I'd again see such a thing. On August 8, 2011, I chased BNSF's L-CHI107 extraboard "Peoria Local" west from town. As I waited at W. Farmington Road, a loaded Union Pacific Kincaid-bound coal train ...

I've come to realize that Friday is better that Tuesday regarding Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA). Those of the former typically have more variety, such as locomotive wheel shipments (in boxcars) from the Keokuk Junction Railway, and occasional Caterpillar track-type tractor loads. Video shows the train rolling by W. Farmington Road in late afternoon. UP 5254 had 30 cars. The Caterpillar D10 track-type tractor load is eighth in consist. This Friday's MPECL had two boxcars and a Caterpillar D10 tractor! (A second tractor load was left at Adams Street Yard for an unknown reason). - David P. Jordan