Peoria Station

After work, I went to East Peoria to see if Norfolk Southern's D49 was still in town (don't know if it even came up). I did not see any NS action, but did notice a TP&W train in the TZPR's East Peoria Yard, building a transfer for the run back home. Meanwhile, radio chatter alerted me to a TZPR local running from Iowa Junction to Bridge Junction, where it paused briefly before crossing the river.  CAPTION: A Tazewell & Peoria Railroad local, presumably the regular Industry Job returning from Kickapoo Yard to East Peoria, crosses Sanger Street in Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Wednesday, February 4, 2026. IMRR 43 has a single loaded gondola. (Obviously, this car doesn't contain coiled wire rod, so it might contain billets.) The TP&W probably pulled the 13 grain empties on the head end from BioUrja South Yard in Peoria, then picked up the other 33 (a mix of IMRR, BNSF - and maybe NS - interchange) from the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria...

The Norfolk Southern covered hoppers were empty, and I can only assume these are in corn germ service out of Roquette America's Keokuk, Iowa wet corn mill to ADM in Decatur. Many of the ALAB cars in this service are getting old, and newer 286,000-lb cars are now industry standard. (NS cars may also be used in organic, or non-GMO, grain service out of Burnside, but usually not this many.) CAPTION: The Keokuk Junction Railway's local crosses the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Illinois River Bridge into Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Tuesday, February 3, 2026. Shortly, it crosses Darst Street. LTEX 3836, LNW 3806, LNW 3807 and LTEX 6437 have 24 empties.   - David P. Jordan

I went into East Peoria after work this afternoon to find BNSF's M-PEIGAL at the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard building a train on the East Lead. It looked like they were putting two cuts together, so I waited on the Peoria side of the river. It did not take long for them to depart. After shooting video at two locations, I went to W. Farmington Road and waited, but soon grew impatient and backtracked to find the train still sitting on the BNSF mainline within yard limits.  CAPTION: BNSF Railway train M-PEIGAL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Galesburg IL) crosses the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Illinois River Bridge into Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Monday, February 2, 2026. Shortly, the train approaches and then enters home rails near Darst Street without pausing. BNSF 3769 and BNSF 7810 have 30 cars (11 loads, 19 empties). Four Komatsu truck chassis loads are on the head end.   - David P. Jordan

The absence of Incobrasa covered hoppers is odd. These days, orange power and green rolling stock seem inseparable.  CAPTION: An eastbound Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway "M-Train" (sometimes called M-EPEF) crawls as it approaches Cruger, Illinois early-afternoon Saturday, January 31, 2026. Later, the train crawls through Secor (after a fast run through Eureka) and then pulls through El Paso. IORY 3492, TPW 5008 and HESR 2107 have 58 cars.   - David P. Jordan

I finally caught a TZPR local with OZIX twin-bay covered hoppers. All eleven were empty, so they must be spotted at the new Ozinga Cement Co facility here for loading, at least with these.  CAPTION: A Tazewell & Peoria Railroad local rolls toward Iowa Junction and Kickapoo Yard late-afternoon Friday, January 30, 2026. TPW 2056 has 13 cars, all but two of which are empty OZIX twin-bay covered hoppers for Ozinga Cement Co's new transfer facility on BioUrja Renewables LLC's Riverside Track.   - David P. Jordan

United Express announced today that it will be linking both Champaign-Urbana and Bloomington-Normal with four daily roundtrips to Chicago-O'Hare starting April 30 and May 7, respectively. Champaign-Urbana media has been quick to post online stories. Look for an update later today. UPDATE: Central Illinois Regional Airport last had United Express service to Chicago-O'Hare in 2008. FM Radio 89.1 WGLT has a story here . Champaign-Urbana's local CBS affiliate, WCIA TV-3 has a story here . The expansion is part of an escalating war between American Airlines and United Airlines at Chicago-O'Hare International Airport over gates and dominance. Whether this big increase in capacity for Central Illinois air travelers is sustainable is a big question. Fares will come down and traffic will be stimulated at both airports, but how long it lasts depends on whether these services are profitable, or at least losses are minimal but the flights provide profitable feed to long haul domes...