Peoria Station

Just before 1:00 this afternoon, I learned that a TP&W job was leaving East Peoria for Crandall and then Morton. So I headed out to Crandall and waited. The TPW 5009 and a single tank car (which I assume was a herbicide load, though the coil springs weren't pressed as one would expect for a load) stopped, the conductor detrained.   The usual routine is to pull up to Crandall on Norfolk Southern's Bloomington District, pull past the switch, then the conductor lines it for the train and the train shoves into the siding. After that, they line the switch into the connection, pull onto the TP&W's Morton Industrial Spur, and then shove toward Morton.    Something must have been wrong with the mainline switch. The crew shoved west of it and waited for awhile. By mid-afternoon, the crew shoved the train back to Farmdale and into the East Peoria Yard.   At least I saw the train come as far as Crandall, and a rare instance of shoving back to East Peoria on the NS...

When I was in Bloomington-Normal Thursday evening, I noticed that D32 had brought in quite a few cars for TZPR and connections, including steel coils for IAIS and steel scrap for Liberty Steel & Wire. I figured they'd run D49 on Friday. But when I decided to head into East Peoria this morning, I was seconds from missing it. Driving US 150 from Morton, I noticed the tail end on TP&W's West End. Fortunately, I head a green light at E. Washington Street. I pulled into the left of two turn lanes at the N. Main Street intersection just in time to shoot a going away video. It took an hour for D49 to turn around and depart with the outbound. Midday lighting this time of year can be a challenge, but Carver Lane proved to be a good location.  Besides three steel coil loads for Iowa Interstate and 13 NS/WRWK gondolas that I believe contained scrap metal for Liberty Steel & Wire (I've seen TZPR locals handling these to and from Kickapoo Yard), there were two empty BNSF cov...

Morning airline operations at Peoria Int'l Airport on May 25, 2026 Evening airline operations at Peoria Int'l Airport on May 25, 2026 It is time for my annual update on local airline service.  As usual, I use the month of July for my annaul analysis. Barring last minute changes, the schedules and route map below are accurate. So let us delve into the present situation.  ALLEGIANT AIR Like last year, schedules for July 2026 show most flights operated with Airbus A320 equipment. They do not discern between 177-seat A320s or brand-new 186-seat A320SEOs. Smaller A319s, configured for 156 seats, are used on Las Vegas and Orlando-Sanford routes. Brand new Boeing 737 Max 8-200 aircraft began appearing on St. Petersburg/Clearwater nonstops as early as February 2025 and are also used on some of the Orlando-Sanford nonstops. These new Boeing planes are equipped with 190 seats.  Compared to July 2025, the airline is offering four fewer weekly departures. The most significant change ...

No Caterpillar loads on this Monday. The first 13 cars (maybe 14, but that car is empty) were from Friday's Keokuk Junction Railway delivery. Ten cars near the end are likely ADM corn germ/meal, etc. from the Iowa Interstate.  CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway train D49 (Local, Normal IL to E. Peoria turn) is shown on its return leg to Good Yard at Normal, Illinois mid-afternoon Monday, June 29, 2026. First scene is at N. Main Street in Morton's outskirts and then again at Deer Creek with a slow order. NS 3228, NS 7021 and NS 5116 (Des Moines unit via IAIS) have 45 cars. - David P. Jordan

After a family reunion in Indiana Sunday afternoon, I caught a TP&W local moving from Effner to near Gilman. The consist of 88 cars could have been entirely for Incobrasa Industries' Gilman plant complex (which opened a second soybean crushing facility last week, and was dedicated on June 22). This includes three methanol loads (UN 1230) near the end, but it is the TP&W, so I'll include it here.  CAPTION: A Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway local journeys westward from Effner to Gilman, Illinois late-afternoon and early-evening Sunday, June 28, 2026. The crew had earlier worked from Gilman to Effner with the first two units, adding TPW 5008 and flipping back with what appears to be a solid train for Incobrasa Industries. Scenes are at Sheldon, 2500 East Road, Watseka and Crescent City. MQT 3407, IORY 3492 and TPW 5008 have 88 cars. Monday morning's "M-Train" had 32 Incobrasa covered hoppers on the head end. It is possible that some are soybean meal l...

I went to the Decatur Train Fair today. Shortly after my arrival, I was able to capture Canadian National Railway's daily manifest leaving for Memphis, Tennessee. Even better, the consist include two or three cars (and maybe more) that came off L557 from East Peoria!    Car 23 - UTLX 63090 is an empty tank car, and last contained sodium hydroxide solution (UN 1824). It was pulled from PMP Fermentation Products in Peoria.    Car 24 - TZPR 321848 is a loaded gondola, containing scrap metal. It was pulled from Alter Metal Recycling, probably the Clarke Street facility (Alter also operates a yard for Liberty Steel & Wire).    Car 71 - CNA 415800 is an empty boxcar. I haven't seen boxcars at Amerhart Ltd's Pekin warehouse for awhile, so I'm thinking this car could have last contained zinc ingots. If so, it was pulled from Liberty Steel & Wire Co. at Bartonville. The zinc boxcars ten to be hi-cubes, however. (CN's Peoria and Gilman Subs, which co...