Peoria Station

Union Pacific couldn't run MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) Friday, July 17, 2020 because a crew was unavailable. So the train ran Saturday.  I'm glad for two reasons: (1) I could see it and (2) it dropped an electric transformer load at Akron Services.   The crew used UP 5517 and UP 5870 to assemble its 67-car train, but had orders to deliver the latter to the Illinois & Midland Railroad at Crescent (Powerton) near Pekin. So before departure north, actually made the delivery. This consumed at least three hours.  I missed MPECL's departure, but knew I could beat it to a location north of town. The first scene is at Legion Hall Road, east of Dunlap. I made it to Akron in time to record MPECL dropping the transformer load and two buffer cars. Edwards Moving & Rigging of Shelbyville, Kentucky is handling unloading and trucking to final destination. Buffer car markings tell me the transformer came from Canadian National origins.  ...

Early Sunday afternoon, I found a Norfolk Southern freight train in the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard readying for departure back to Good Yard in Normal. The Komatsu truck chassis and four Caterpillar tractor loads were a nice treat! Komatsu loads have appear regularly on weekday local (D49) in recent weeks. I saw three on July 2's train, and two on July 9. Notably absent are Caterpillar tractor loads. Norfolk Southern handles these out of East Peoria on occasion, but I rarely catch them. Until Sunday, July 12. Extra local D47 had four loads - three D11s and a D9. This traffic is for export via three ports - Baltimore, MD (Dundalk Marine Terminal), Portsmouth, VA (Portsmouth Marine Terminal) and Savannah, GA (Ocean Terminal - Georgia Ports Authority). As states reopen and economic activity returns, truck rates have risen. So it is logical to assume that Caterpillar has begun to shift some export shipments back to rail. Increased orders are also a likely...

Delta Connection's last flight into Peoria will be on July 6.  That's according to an administrator's comment on Peoria Int'l Airport's flypia Facebook page.  Present schedules show a single, weekday nonstop roundtrip between Peoria and Atlanta. Arrival (Flight #4832) is at 2:45pm and departure (Flight #4647) at 3:35pm. Flights are operated by a 50-seat CRJ200 belonging to Endeavor Air.  Another administrator's comment on PIA's Facebook page hopes the carrier returns in October.  - David P. Jordan

Tuesday, June 23, 2020, offered me an opportunity to watch Canadian National Railway local L557 (E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) switching two customers at Pekin, Illinois' Riverway Business Park. I found the train pausing along Route 29, which enabled me to wait off of N. 3rd Street in downtown Pekin for its passage. CN 5735 and KCS 5019 had departed the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard with 34 cars.  The train stopped at the siding near Derby Street to twelve cars - two lumber loads for Amerhart Ltd., a coil steel load for Hanna Steel Corp., and nine grain empties. Switching operations begin at the 7:11 mark. Final scene shows the now 43-car train at Fifth Street near South Pekin, where the nine grain empties will be setout. Back in April, Canadian National implemented a new schedule for its local trains here. Northbound L556 runs from Decatur to E. Peoria Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Southbound L557 runs Tuesday and Thursday. Friday's L556 ...

I happened to catch three local train movements, Sunday May 31, 2020. Late Sunday morning, I found BNSF Railway train M-GALPEI (Manifest, Galesburg IL to Peoria, IL) just finishing up setting out nine twin-bay covered hoppers on the New Long. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long before hit entered the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad for the trip across the river to East Peoria.  BNSF 538 and BNSF 553 have 37 cars. It seems every M-GALPEI has nitrogen loads from Iowa Fertilizer's Wever, Iowa plant while counterpart M-PEIGAL has empties returning there. This traffic is seasonal, so trains will be getting shorter by summer. The Andersons' Walton and Logansport, Indiana facilities on TP&W-operated Winamac Southern Railway are the primary destinations for this traffic.  Sunday afternoon, I caught this TP&W train hauling empty flat cars used for hauling wind turbine towers moving onto the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Pekin double track at Wesley, Il...

I caught Canadian National local L556 (Decatur IL to E. Peoria IL) rolling by Wesley Road in Hilliards (Creve Coeur), Illinois on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's double track Pekin mainline early Thursday afternoon. IC 1007 and CN 8895 have seven cars. It was good to see IC 1007, still in Illinois Central RR black. That carrier was acquired by Canadian National Railway in 1999 and absorbed through merger in 2000. Although the IC still exists as a legal entity, its parent has supplanted its own branding in the last two decades.  Memorial Day changed the locals' routine this week. Normally, L556 runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday and L557 runs Tuesday and Thursday. Friday's L556 makes a roundtrip from Decatur to East Peoria and return. While L556 ran Monday, counterpart L557 did not operate until Wednesday. That moved L556's next run to today. Train apparently returned south engine lite. Call times can vary.  Today's train was short. Five empty ...

BNSF Railway train M-PEIGAL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Galesburg IL) pulls across Krause Ave. and S. Darst Street in Peoria, Illinois around midday, Tuesday, May 26, 2020. BNSF 545, BNSF 332, BNSF 334 and HLCX 1073 have 30 cars. Counterpart M-GALPEI (Manifest, Galesburg IL to Peoria IL) arrived Sunday, one day early, likely due to the holiday. This train is suppose to on Mondays and Thursdays. Recently, crews have been turning back as M-PEIGAL the same day, but normally those runs are made Tuesdays and Fridays. Today's train is shorter than usual (typical is closer to 50 or 60 cars), but current events are likely affecting traffic levels.  Radio chatter indicates the train would be left on the New Long (on Peoria's far south side) until flooding issues further west subside. When that will be is unknown at this time, but hopefully later today.  - David P. Jordan