I left for church early today so I could check out if Iowa Interstate train PESI was getting close to departure. I missed SIPE's arrive with three Norfolk Southern geeps, but found IAIS power with the PESI crew aboard running through the TZPR's East Peoria Yard.
They planned to pulled those three NS geeps across W. Washington Street then shove them along the Nickel Plate and leave them on the Creve Coeur Team Track. But they were instructed to wait for a TP&W local enroute back to East Peoria.
I got gas up in Creve Coeur and came back to find the TP&W train running on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Nickel Plate Division, and two IAIS and three NS geeps waiting at W. Washington Street. I parked with just a few minutes to spare before TPW 3440, HESR 3485 and TPW 5010 rolled by with 33 grain empties from ADM South Yard.
Moments after the TP&W local cleared, Iowa Interstate PESI's crew with IAIS 711 and 703 and three Norfolk Southern geeps (5317-5077-5174) moved across the street, waited for the signal then took the Nickel Plate to the other end of the yard, and ultimately the team track.You ask, "what's with those Norfolk Southern geeps on an Iowa Interstate train?"
Well, Norfolk Southern abandoned its own route into Des Moines in 1992 in favor of a haulage agreement with Burlington Northern between St. Louis/Hannibal and Des Moines. A decade or so ago, BNSF made service to Des Moines much less of a priority. So for some traffic, NS has employed the Iowa Interstate as haulage agent between Des Moines and Peoria. This includes locomotives assigned to work NS customers and interchanges in the Iowa capital.
By early afternoon, PESI (Peoria IL to Silvis IL) is shown rolling by the old San Koty Station area a few miles out of Peoria. IAIS 711 and IAIS 703 have 59 cars. I hard the crew say "55 empties" so I figure four loads were scattered throughout the train. The NS coil steel load is the obvious one.
After I left the downtown library, I checked to see if BNSF's M-PEIGAL was in the East Peoria Yard, but could not find it. I did notice a headlight down toward Iowa Junction so I circled back via I-474 and found a couple of orange geeps on the point of a covered hopper train waiting at Kickapoo Yard (with the train stretched into Bartonville). Shortly, the crew asked for permission from Iowa Junction to the East Lead. The first 28 cars are probably phosphate empties returning to Florida via TP&W and CSX. The 26 loads are some kind of dry bulk fertilizer, possibly urea. These could be going to the Iowa Interstate, TP&W or both. CAPTION: The Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Lead 2 rolls by Darst Street in Peoria, Illinois early evening Friday, August 15, 2025. TPW 5010 and IMRR 2108 have 54 cars (28 empties/26 loads). Dry fertilizer loads and empties were pulled from Mosaic Crop Nutrition LLC, located south of Bartonville. - David P. Jordan
Tuesday's Union Pacific MPECL was short, but I expected such as KJRY interchange moved on Friday's train. CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls across W. Farmington Road shortly after leaving Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Tuesday, May 7, 2024. UP 7099 and UP 8950 have 29 cars. - David P. Jordan
It is time for my annual update on local airline service. A summer month is best for this update. I used July for 2024's update, and I have every reason to do so again this year. 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 2025 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 now only used on some Las Vegas and Punta Gorda flights. Brand new Boeing 737 Max 8-200 aircraft began appearing on St. Petersburg/Clearwater nonstops as early as February 2025 and are now also used on Orlando-Sanford nonstops. These aircraft are equipped with 190 seats. Seasonal nonstops to Destin/Fort Walton Beach and year-round nonstops to Phoenix-Mesa and Punta Gorda have gained one weekly roundtrip each as compared to last year. So there are now...
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