IAIS PESI, UP Coal Loads, TZPR Potash, UP Coal MTs, Barge Tow, BNSF M-PEIGAL 7-20-24

I made a haul today. 

 

I was planning on going to the Monticello Railway Museum's book, model and paper items sale early, but received word that Iowa Interstate train PESI had received a track warrant to head north from Peoria. 

 

So I went after it. 

 

I caught it just before Rome, where I parked and shot video of its passage. 

CAPTION: Iowa Interstate Railroad manifest PESI (Peoria IL to Silvis IL) rolls by Rome, Illinois late-morning Saturday, July 20, 2024. IAIS 518 and IAIS 151 have 76 cars.

 

I also knew that a Tazewell & Peoria RR crew was hauling the potash train Iowa Interstate potash train from Friday evening along the Kickapoo Main (Southern Division), which was in the opposite direction. Good thing for Rt. 6 and I-474, because I made it to Mendenhall Road, the TZPR potash train stopped short of the Union Pacific mainline connection waiting for passage of a Powerton-bound coal train. 

CAPTION: A Union Pacific loaded, Powerton-bound coal train rolls by Mendenhall Road near Sommer, Illinois late-morning Saturday, July 20, 2024. UP 5741 and UP 6455 are on the point. UP 5353 is DPU.

 

Once the UP coal train was clear, the TZPR potash train entered the UP mainline and rolled by my position. This time, I decided to zoom in to capture the train coming through the switch. 

CAPTION: A Tazewell & Peoria Railroad local crew drags a potash train onto the Union Pacific's Peoria Subdivision near Mendenhall Road at Sommer, Illinois late-morning Saturday, July 20, 2024. The TZPR uses four miles of trackage rights on the UP line so it can reach Mosaic Crop Nutrition LLC's fertilizer terminal. TZPR 1521, IMRR 43 and TZPR 1351 have 105 loads.

 

After bagging these three train movements, I did in fact head for Monticello. When I left, I quickly learned that I had missed a BNSF M-GALPEI, probably a rare third run for the week. But I did wait for its departure as M-PEIGAL. More on that later. 

 

When I drove across the S. Adams Street viaduct off I-474 I noticed an empty Union Pacific coal train on the Low Line. Radio chatter, indicated activity on the East Peoria side so I turned around and crossed the river to investigate. No movement, so I returned to Peoria, only to find the empty coal train had departed. Fortunately, radio chatter indicated the train had just entered the Peoria Sub, so I was able to get ahead of it and shoot video at the Reservoir Boulevard crossing. 

CAPTION: A Union Pacific train of northbound coal empties attacks Pioneer Hill as it rolls by Reservoir Boulevard late-afternoon Saturday, July 20, 2024. UP 7356, UP 8189 and UP 7490 have 157 coal empties received from Canadian National Railway on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad double track.

 

Before the BNSF freight departed East Peoria, I shot this scene of a barge tow with my phone. 

CAPTION: A tugboat pushes a barge tow under the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad Illinois River Bridge early evening Saturday, July 20, 2024.

 

I'm glad I shot the whole train at Darst Street, because the crew was instructed to back into the New Long, tie up and get a ride back to Galesburg. I couldn't tell if they were waiting for an empty westbound coal train or if an eastbound was on the mainline when the dispatcher said a train had already covered 40 percent of the distance. 

CAPTION: BNSF Railway train M-PEIGAL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Galesburg IL) crosses the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Illinois River Bridge early evening Saturday, July 20, 2024. BNSF 6697 and BNSF 6102 have 34 cars.

 

David P. Jordan