Peoria Station

I was off work Friday, mainly to block Saturday, on which I planned to leave for the Lexington Group meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. Turns out, I did not need it after all, but glad I took it anyway. It was quite productive... CAPTION: Iowa Interstate ZENO-E (Zen-Noh Grain, Eastbound) is shown entering the Peoria Subdivision at Bureau Junction, Illinois late-morning Friday, October 16, 2026. Later scenes are at Putnam, Henry, Sparland, Chillicothe and Rome. IAIS 707 and IAIS 700 have 92 grain empties for interchange to Canadian National on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Pekin double track at Hilliards. In early evening, a new crew has manifest PESI (Peoria IL to Silvis IL) just coming off the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Illinois River Bridge at Peoria, Illinois. IAIS 707 and IAIS 700 have NS 5193 and 70 cars. I ended my chase of Iowa Interstate's ZENO-E after Rome, realizing that Union Pacific's MPECL would probably leave Adams Street Yard around noon....

D47 is probably a regular assignment now, as some of us have caught it a few times during the past week. The Good Yard-based local, D49, was moved to an early evening (1800) call time in late-August, so it seemed inevitable that with Rivian's R2 production set to increase substantially, a daytime job would be needed to handle other work such as the Tazewell & Peoria RR interchange.  Given its appearances at East Peoria in the afternoon and early evening hours, D47's call time is obviously somewhat later than 0600 hours, and is probably no earlier than 0800. This evening's train would not have returned to Good Yard until about 2000 hours. There is a possibility, however, that the train has no regular call time, and works only after D32 arrives Good Yard from Decatur, which can vary a lot.  Whatever D47's arrangement, its afternoon appears enable me to see both arrival and departure on some days. Early darkness won't be a problem either, given the bright street li...

I happened to catch M-GALPEI having just entered Tazewell & Peoria property at Darst Street, so I headed to the riverfront for the only really good lighting left. Then I went to the library intending to catch M-PEIGAL later. What I did not count on was that M-PEIGAL left earlier than I figured it would, and that Norfolk Southern train D47 was cleared to run from Farmdale to P&PU Junction and into the East Peoria Yard at the same time. Fortunately, I got both! CAPTION: BNSF Railway train M-GALPEI (Manifest, Galesburg IL to Peoria IL) rolls across the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Illinois River Bridge at Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Friday, October 9, 2026. BNSF 7429 and BNSF 1109 have 20 cars. In early evening, counterpart M-PEIGAL rolls by Kramm Road, a few miles west of Edwards, Illinois. I heard some radio chatter from the MOP giving instructions into the yard as well as where the outbound was, but didn't pickup the train symbol or control points. So I checked t...

I went to the Farmdale area almost immediately after work and encountered Norfolk Southern D47 on its trip back to Good Yard at Normal.  When D49 moved from a morning to an evening call time on August 24, it seemed likely that a daylight job would be put on soon to support increased Rivian output.  Hopefully, D47 is actually a regular job now, and an East Peoria turn is one of its regular duties. (This seems likely; a commenter on the video wrote that he saw it yesterday behind the Dollar Tree in East Peoria.) CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Train D47 (Normal IL to E. Peoria IL) rolls through the Farmdale area of East Peoria, Illinois on its return leg to Good Yard in Normal, mid-afternoon Thursday, October 8, 2026. NS 7011 and NS 7034 have 60 cars. - David P. Jordan

Late this afternoon, I shot this image of the new control tower now under construction at General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport. View looks east-southeast from the passenger terminal parking lot.  This structure is located east of the existing tower, and is actually closer to the Byerly Aviation business aviation terminal (out of view at left). Construction is expected to be completed in 2027. By then, the old tower, will have been in operation for 68 years! - David P. Jordan

Early Sunday afternoon, I learned that the TP&W was handling a grain extra out of Chenoa for Union Pacific at Peoria. This was the second train in as many days, one had been pulled from Grainland Farmers' Cruger elevator on Saturday. I did not see it, but understand it was also delivered to Union Pacific at Adams Street Yard. Apparently, the two carriers have decided to shift their interchange point for grain trains from Crescent/Powerton near Pekin or the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's double track mainline to Adams Street Yard/Low Line in Peoria. Saturday's Cruger train is reportedly bound for Mexico via Eagle Pass, Texas, and Sunday's Chenoa train is probably going to Mexico as well.  CAPTION: The Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway ran this grain extra from Prairie Central Coop's Greenfield (Chenoa), Illinois rail loop Sunday afternoon, October 4, 2026. UP 5731, UP 8785 and UP 5640 were on the point of 115 loads. Train is shown at Cruger, Washington, Ea...