Peoria Station

I learned that Union Pacific's MPECL departed Adams Street Yard a little before 3:00 Friday afternoon, so I took the chance and caught up with it. A possible misunderstanding over a meet with a southbound (which I never saw, but may have been a southbound grain train) at Pioneer (where I stopped and waited, hoping it had not yet ascended the hill) or Edelstein (where radio chatter indicated the train was already past my location).   I may have only caught up to it because the crew had to set out the seventh car, a loaded alcohol tank car, on the old fertilizer spur at Morse. I shot a little video of the train pulling away, and then waited for it to roll by me at the new El Camino station area.  CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) set out a loaded alcohol tank car on the old fertilizer spur at Morse (near Bradford, Illinois) then pulls away to reconnect with the rest of the train. Later, it rolls by El Camino, future site of a Bartlett Gra...

As usual, I saw something on my way to the downtown library this afternoon after work.    I'm glad I took I-474 instead of I-74 because I came across a three locomotive/two-car Keokuk Junction Railway local waiting at Iowa Junction for traffic to clear before heading on to East Peoria. First, BNSF's M-PEIGAL as just pulling onto home rails at S. Darst Street when I drove by. After catching it at W. Farmington Road a short time later, I returned to Peoria's southside to find an empty Union Pacific Decatur coal train pulling through Adams Street Yard.   The signal at W. Farmington Road was green for a northbound UP, but I don't believe it was the coal empties. A coal empty out of Crescent or a grain empty out of South Pekin are more likely. I ended up going to the downtown library, but should have stayed at W. Farmington Road as not only the Decatur train but also MPECL departed before evening.  CAPTION: BNSF Railway train M-PEIGAL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Ga...

This morning, I learned that the Iowa Interstate was running an SIPE and PESI today, with the former already enroute. So I waited until it was closer to my area and was able to intercept after it had gone through Chillicothe. Short train, but with a little variety, including empty dry bulk fertilizer cars for TZPR (or TP&W) and a scrap metal load that is presumably consigned to Liberty Steel & Wire Co. CAPTION: Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd. manifest SIPE (Silvis IL to Peoria IL) is shown late-morning to early-afternoon Saturday, May 24, 2025. Scenes are at Mossville and San Koty on the Peoria Sub, then at the North Limit Yard, Alexander Street and South Street on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Uptown Division. IAIS 150 and IAIS 151 have 33 cars.   After getting back into Peoria, radio chatter indicated that BNSF's M-PEIGAL was building a train in the East Peoria Yard, and that it and TZPR's Lead 2 had to look out for the Iowa Interstate train. Sure enough...

After catching LPD01 on Monday afternoon, I decided to leave work two hours early on Tuesday to catch MPECL. As usual, my plan does not always unfold as I hoped, but I did catch the train, finally, at Camp Grove.    I left work at 1:00pm, and drove directly to Adams Street Yard to confirm that it was gone, which it was. So I headed up I-474, Route 6, US 150, Willow Knolls Drive and finally Brauer Road and waited a few minutes, hoping to hear MPECL growling up Pioneer Hill.    While I did hear sounds I thought could be MPECL, I was smart enough to look north to see the rear end fading in the distance. I could not catch it until Speer, and by then it was too late to set up for video. So Camp Grove was the next spot I tried, and succeeded.    On my way back to Peoria, I caught radio chatter between the dispatcher and train crew. She asked them if they were at Milepost 61. They told her they were at Milepost 47. She had informed that that a vehicle was hi...

I got a surprise on my way to the downtown library this afternoon.   Radio chatter indicated that BNSF's M-GALPEI had arrived, and a string of cars on one of the Long Tracks looked like a good candidate for it. Other radio chatter indicated, however, that another train was asking for permission to depart Iowa Junction (Peoria) for the East Lead in East Peoria, which I later realized was TP&W's EP2 job. But priority was given to Union Pacific's Peoria Wayfreight, or LPD01, which was monstrous at 72 cars. I shot it coming across the river and again as it near home rails at S. Darst Street. One thing for sure, Tuesday's MPECL will be an unusually large train...   (BNSF power tied up on the team track, so M-PEIGAL will grab two more units brought in by NS last week before heading west later, possibly tomorrow morning.) CAPTION: Union Pacific's "Peoria Wayfreight," LPD01, rolls across the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Illinois River Bridge enr...

I heard the dispatcher give it permission to head north on the Peoria Subdivision, so when it took awhile to catch up to it, I figured it had to be short.    It was.    Kind of a neat one though. Behind the ES44AC were two empty covered hoppers and five loaded tank cars, all placarded as UN 3065, or "alcoholic beverage." I'll dub this one the "Vodka Special." Don't know if the five cars came from BioUrja in Peoria or Alto Pekin LLC or Alto ICP in Pekin.   I'm curious about their destination. Typically, they are consigned to a distillery that is resuming operations after a maintenance shutdown or to a liquor blending and packaging facility. Although the cars are likely to be handled all the way to Silvis, I suspect they will moving back east on manifest CRBI (Cedar Rapids IA to Blue Island IL) to a Chicago connection.  CAPTION: Iowa Interstate Railroad manifest PESI (Peoria IL to Silvis IL) rolls along the Peoria Subdivision through Mossville, Ro...

On my way to the downtown library early this afternoon I checked out the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria and noticed an Illinois & Midland RR transfer that had just arrived. I stuck around for signs that it would return south shortly, and it did.  CAPTION: An Illinois & Midland Railroad Powerton Roadswitcher is shown on its return trip from sister Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard early afternoon Saturday, May 17, 2025. Locations are Wesley, Hilliards and Pekin, Illinois. A fourth scene shows a runby of the train's power at Distillery Road in Pekin. IORY 5014 and IMRR 2108 have 43 cars.   I missed BNSF's M-GALPEI Friday afternoon, and assumed that when the crew parked their power on the Creve Coeur Team Track, a relief crew might take it M-PEIGAL west later in the evening. Turns out, M-PEIGAL ran Saurday afternoon. I was at the downtown library when it departed, but since I knew it could not be too far west, searched for and enc...