Peoria Station

Allied Iron & Steel Co. and A. Miller & Co are no more. Alter Trading announced March 20 that it was acquiring A. Miller & Co and its sister Allied Iron & Steel Co. These operations have closed and work done at both facilities has been consolidated at local Alter Metal Recycling facilities.  Allied Iron & Steel was served by the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad, though service seemed sporadic in recent years. This facility opened in 1965 (per an Illinois Industrial Directory) and was originally served by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy RR, which installed a switch on the curve just west of the Peoria Terminal Company crossing. At the time, the Chicago & North Western Railway's ex-Minneapolis & St. Louis line was still in place up to Iowa Junction, so Allied's facility was nestled between that and the CB&Q.  A. Miller & Co. loaded junk in gondolas to its Alley Track location on 1612 SW Adams Street for shipment to Allied's plant for pr...

Today's MPECL had a neat consist, including a variety of boxcars from the KJRY interchange.  CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road shortly after departing Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Friday, April 28, 2023. UP 5890 and NS 8063 have 45 cars.   - David P. Jordan

I hadn't seen either of BNSF Peoria Sub manifests since January 7, and that one (M-GALPEI) I had to drive up to Douglas to capture before dark. Nearly four months later, I see both M-GALPEI's this week! It was good to see it.  CAPTION: BNSF Railway train M-GALPEI (Manifest, Galesburg IL to Peoria IL) rolls by W. Farmington Road late afternoon Thursday, April 27, 2023 as it nears the end of its journey. Later, the train is shown entering the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad at S. Darst Street. BNSF 7772 and BNSF 7115 have 41 cars (23 loads/18 empties) representing a variety of traffic - nitrogen fertilizer solution, zinc ingots, lumber, bagged salt, methyl chloride, molten petroleum asphalt and animal fat. I could have captured the eastbound Keokuk Junction Railway local, but only after its set out for TP&W and Union Pacific at Collier Yard. So I decided to go to the downtown library instead. A heads up on social media on M-GALPEI prompted me to leave the library earlier than...

Early this afternoon, TPW 2105 came into Morton with one tank car for Fort Transfer Company. It left engine lite. The other two tank cars brought in March 2 are still there. I was at work so I couldn't see it.  I did get a heads up on a CN feed pellet train this evening, though. I waited until the downtown library closed, figuring that the train would wait south of Pekin for a little while before getting permission to enter Tazewell & Peoria Railroad trackage at IC Junction.  When I crossed the CN main at Hanna Drive, the train was moving so I quickly turned around and set up by the old C&IM depot for video.  CAPTION: Canadian National Railway train G831 (Grain Loads, Decatur IL to Peoria IL) crawls through downtown Pekin, Illinois near IC Junction early evening Wednesday, April 26, 2023. CN 3916 and CN 5606 have gluten feed loads from ADM in Decatur for interchange to BNSF Railway, on which it becomes G-PEISMR (Grain Loads, Peoria IL to Summerfield TX). ...

Lighting conditions were less than ideal, but I haven't seen M-GALPEI since January 7! Today's train had 18 loads and 21 empties. Note three brand new BRIX covered hoppers, two boxcars (salt loads), seven nitrogen tank cars, one methyl chloride tank car and some other traffic for TP&W. There were were also two scrap metal loads, which I assume are consigned to Liberty Steel & Wire Co. CAPTION:  BNSF Railway train M-GALPEI (Manifest, Galesburg IL to Peoria IL) rolls by W. Farmington Road early evening Monday, April 24, 2023. BNSF 5169 and BNSF 9756 have 39 cars. Later, the train is shown entering the Tazewell & Peoria RR at S. Darst St.   - David P. Jordan

One of TP&W's biggest historical weakness - lack of concentration of heavy industry on both ends of its system (and in between) - is being rectified in recent years. The latest is a major expansion by Incobrasa Industries' Gilman, Illinois soybean crushing facility, which opened in 1997. Although it is also served by Canadian National, TP&W will hopefully see a significant increase in business when construction is complete.  So it is good to see local activity for Incobrasa industries. An extra crew pulled a mix of old and new (or newer) covered hoppers from the East Peoria Yard to Grainland Co-operative's Cruger elevator this afternoon for soybean loading.  CAPTION: A Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway Cruger Turn rolls by Ernest Street in Washington, Illinois early afternoon Saturday, April 22, 2023. IORY 5014 and TPW 2105 have 58 empties for soybean loading at Grainland Co-op. - David P. Jordan 

Although I'd first check on Union Pacific train MPECL as usual on Friday, I headed into Peoria this afternoon knowing the Keokuk Junction Railway's East Peoria turn had left Kolbe. I was able to capture MPECL under than Harman Highway overpass a short time later.  I expected the twelve zinc oxide loads (see Note 1) on the head end of Tuesday's TP&W road train to be on Friday's MPECL. Although it had seven zinc oxide loads (see Note 2), none matched those on the TP&W train. You would think sufficient time had passed for TP&W to deliver to Union Pacific. I did notice two cars (not together) were left at Adams Street Yard, I don't think any were among the twelve arriving from East Peoria Tuesday evening.  NOTE 1 - SRIX 57102, SRIX 525002, RISX 1037, RISX 3073, RISX 3046, SRIX 525062, SRIX 57259, RISX 3059, RISX 3077, RISX 3037, RISX 3071, RISX 3070 NOTE 2 - RISX 1036, RISX 1031, RISX 3044, SRIX 525111, RISX 3035, RISX 3074, RISX 1035 CAPTION: Union Pacific...