Peoria Station

Like earlier this year (February 8-9), six TZPR gondolas up front on this afternoon's KJRY local returning to Mapleton from East Peoria likely contain scrap railroad wheels for Amsted Rail's Griffin Wheel Div. at Keokuk, Iowa.    I have not been able to confirm the origin of these scrap wheel loads, but TZPR-marked gondolas confirm thart they were loaded locally, probably at Alter Metal Recycling's W. Clarke Street processing facility or Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard. The TZPR's RIP facility there and two local firms which refurbish, assembly and supply railcar wheels - Alliance Wheel Services at Washington and Wheelworx North LLC at Pekin - seem likely sources for these wheels.  CAPTION: The Keokuk Junction Railway's "East Peoria turn" is shown on its westbound (return) leg at Cilco Lane south of Bartonville and at Mapleton early-evening Friday, April 24, 2026. LTEX 3836-3010-3837-6437 have 20 cars. Train reportedly had 12 car...

Canadian National's Peoria Sub was busy today. An empty grain train was delivered to Iowa Interstate, local L557 worked south as usual on Thursday, and a weed sprayer train ran north, entered the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad at IC Junction in Pekin, turned at Wesley and headed back south to home rails this afternoon.  CAPTION: A Canadian National weed spray train is shown mid- to late-afternoon Thursday, April 23, 2026 rolling along the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad at Hilliards (Creve Coeur), Illinois. Later, it is shown on home rails at IC Junction in downtown Pekin, at 5th Street near South Pekin, and again at the intersection with Main Street in South Pekin. CN 5289, an SD40-2W, has six cars.   - David P. Jordan

After work, I learned that Norfolk Southern's D49 local had already left East Peoria. I decided to go after it, catching just before Carlock. I knew I could not set up in time there, but exited I-74 (due to construction) onto US 150 (waiting on the train in town) and just barely beating it to Yuton, where it had slowed before pausing for the conductor to line the switch into the "make up" track and into Good Yard's Track 5.    This was a good one. Three Caterpillar tractor loads (one D10 and two D11s), four coiled wire rod loads, a plastic load (from IMRR), an alcohol load and the usual ADM traffic from the Iowa Interstate. Two empty coil steel cars from IAIS, and a scrap metal empty. Two probable steel billet empties (also from IAIS), brought up the rear. CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway Train D49 (Normal IL to E. Peoria IL Turn) is shown slowing at Yuton, Illinois as it approaches its home terminal, Good Yard, in Normal late-afternoon Wednesday, April 22, 2026...

After work, I headed into town on I-474 and exited on SW Adams Street for the chance that Union Pacific's MPECL was late, as it is on occasion. Unfortunately, Adams Street Yard was empty. So I crossed the river to check out the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard. While in the vicinity, I heard radio chatter about a TZPR 2133 seeking permission from Iowa Junction to East Peoria. I retraced my earlier journey on I-474 (construction on the Cedar Street Bridge would have delayed me too long), and found a train moving toward the bridge. Although a TZPR unit was on the point, all cars made it obvious that this was a TP&W train.  CAPTION: A Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway local, EP1, is heading toward the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Illinois River Bridge at Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Tuesday, April 21, 2026. TZPR 2133 has 20 cars (most if not all are from Mapleton).   While heading for Peoria the second time, I noticed the tail end of Canadian...

I finally got the loaded CN-bound soybean train this afternoon! Boy were those units growling going through Chillicothe!  CAPTION: Iowa Interstate Railroad train ZENOE (Zeh Noh Grain, Eastbound) rolls by the former Rock Island depot at Chillicothe, Illinois late-afternoon Saturday, April 18, 2026. Later, the whole train is shown at E. Knox Street in Rome. IAIS 503 and IAIS 153 have 109 soybean loads for Canadian National on TZPR's Pekin double track main.   I caught TP&W's westbound road freight at Gridley Saturday evening. I'm glad I did. There was one empty OZIX twin-bay covered hopper and a lumber load (for Morton Buildings' East Peoria Transload?) that must have come off CSX.  CAPTION: A Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway westbound freight, sometimes known as "M-EFEP" (Manifest, Effner IL to E. Peoria IL), pulls six grain loads from the Ruff Brothers Grain elevator on the east side of Gridley, Illinois early evening Saturday, April 18, 2026. S...

While in the area, I noticed BNSF's M-GALPEI moving on the south end of the TZPR yard. Later, it was coupled to an outbound. It eventually departed, but as thunderstorms entered the area. Amazingly, the train showed up at W. Farmington Road during a lull in showers... CAPTION: BNSF Railway M-PEIGAL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Galesburg IL) rolls by W. Farmington Road a few miles after leaving Peoria, Illinois early-evening Friday, April 17, 2026. BNSF 4462 and NS 9901 have 45 cars.   - David P. Jordan

I had a heads up that Canadian National's L557 local was about to, or already had. left East Peoria, and decided to take Rt. 98 and then a left on Rt. 29. This was a good decision because the train had entered Pekin just ahead of me.  CAPTION: Canadian National Railway train L557 (Local, E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) rolls enters home rails at IC Junction in downtown Pekin, Illinois late-afternoon Thursday, April 16, 2026. Steel coil and lumber loads, for Hanna Steel and Amerhart, respectively were "turned" at the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard rather than being set out at Pekin (perhaps L556's crew was short on time?). CN 3192 has 37 cars.   I normally don't post UP Joliet/Springfield Sub action here, but something stood out with a possible local connection.    There were nine RISX covered hoppers on today's MBNAS (in groups of six and three). All empties. Those markings are familiar to me because similar RISX-marked cars are assig...

On April 15, 1926, Robertson Aircraft Corporation inaugurated CAM-2, or Contract Air Mail route No. 2, between St. Louis and Chicago with stops at Springfield and Peoria. Charles A. Lindbergh and Philip R. Love each piloted a De Havilland DH-4 biplane, starting out at St. Louis.  The Peoria stop used Alexander Varney's field at Kellar. A marker (see above) is near the location where Lindbergh landed his DH-4 on the first day of service.  - David P. Jordan

Old 3192 remains on the L556/L557 for now. First car is that coal load that I saw on MPECL March 13. I guess it is finally going back to ADM at Decatur. The HOME SHOP FOR REPAIR DO NOT LOAD decal is interesting, as the car is already loaded. An empty tank car, which last contained sodium hydroxide solution, came from PMP Fermentation Products in Peoria. Alcohol loads are probably from both BioUrja and Alto plants. The two boxcars on the rear are zinc ingot empties from Liberty Steel & Wire.  CAPTION: Canadian National Railway train L557 (Local, E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) rolls by Hilliards (Creve Coeur), Illinois on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Pekin double track mid-afternoon Tuesday, April 14, 2026. CN 3192 has 40 cars.   Des Moines haulage grain trains haven't run on the Iowa Interstate (IAIS) since August 2021, and those had 85 cars. This one is probably for loading at an IAIS-served elevator, in which case the Regional gets a rate division. NS power must...

The radio chatter between crew and dispatcher was garbled thanks to interference from abundant local plant life, so I don't know if this is Industry 4 or Lead 2. I'd think the regular job would have already run to Kickapoo Yard and back today. Eight of the train's cars are OZIX empties for Ozinga Cement Co.  CAPTION: A Tazewell & Peoria Railroad local crosses the Illinois River into Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Monday, April 13, 2026. It will diverge left for Iowa Junction and Kickapoo Yard. TZPR 1352 has nine cars. I was at work when M-GALPEI arrived, but figured I could catch the counterpart, and did. The TZPR local went ahead by a few minutes. I caught the same train with a pair of CN units on March 27, and now today's had a pair of CSX units! Must be a lot of foreign power available at Galesburg these days. Today's train had seven more of those OZIX loads, and some of the usual traffic, including a healthy cut from TP&W (probably the last 30 cars...

This afternoon, I was able to capture this IAIS-CN grain extra on the CN side. The train rolled right through downtown Pekin at or near posted speed limit (10mph). That was in contrast to my first encounter with the train on February 15 when the conductor de-trained and walked it across 3rd Street at no more than 2-3mph!    I don't know how long several Iowa Interstate-served elevators - reportedly Landus Coop at Atlantic and Adair and Heartland Coop at Dexter, Kellogg and Malcolm - will continue these trains but this is great for variety of activity on two lines which serve Peoria.  CAPTION: Canadian National Railway grain extra G888 (E. Peoria IL to Helvetia LA) is shown in various stages and at various locations on Saturday afternoon, April 11, 2026. The crew ran engine lite from the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Creve Coeur Team Track down Main No. 1 then crossed over to No. 2 to attach to the train at Hilliards. After departing an hour later, power runbys are...

Shocked, shocked I tell you, on this latest development.  WEEK TV-25 posted a story yesterday tell us that,   "Members of the Peoria Park District Board of Trustees are siding with Friends of Riverfront Park against the sale of land near the Detweiller Marina."   Obviously, local activists are always in need of a cause, and have found one. They are the usual suspects which agitated for years to get the Peoria, Peoria Heights & Western Railroad (aka "Kellar Branch") abandoned in favor of a recreational trail.  I still wonder why O'Brien Steel wants to relocate its crane system and steel storage area. It would seem they need the existing space for expansion of operations, but I've not seen any announcements.  The firm is a distributor for steel products like I-beams and pilings, and fabrication, welding, heat treating and processing. It has four steel service centers and four processing facilities (Peoria does both) in Illinois and Wisconsin.  Relocating...

I caught the Keokuk Junction Railway local heading to and from East Peoria this afternoon and evening. I can't be 100% sure that all 19 tank cars (corn syrup loads, maybe a few contain sorbitol) are for Norfolk Southern, but if D49 runs Friday, they should be on it. The return run left East Peoria with a healthy 57 cars, though all were empty. Most were grain empties, presumably corn, from Alto's Pekin locations. A pressure differential covered hopper probably last contained corn starch. At least some of the ALAB cars may have last contained corn germ or corn screenings.  CAPTION: The Keokuk Junction Railway's local makes its "East Peoria turn" late-afternoon/early evening at Darst Street and Krause Avenue in Peoria, Illinois Thursday, April 9, 2026. LTEX 6437-3837-3010-3836 have 19 loads (all tank cars) for the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard. LTEX 3836-3010-3837-6437 return from East Peoria with 57 empty covered hoppers.   Although I u...

I've caught this train ten times since I first noticed Ozinga Cement Co's barge-rail-truck terminal being put up at the lower end of the old Peoria Barge Terminal property in early November. On January 12, I noticed five OZIX empties on M-GALPEI, and started to wonder if these were for the new local facility or Harsco at Powerton.   Here's my reasoning: I saw Norfolk Southern D49 departing East Peoria on July 15, 2025 with a block of eight loaded twin bay covered hoppers - the middle four had OZIX markings - but this was before Ozinga's local terminal opened. Ozinga must be a customer for the granulated slag Harsco processes from coal ash, and it would make sense for the company to supply its own rolling stock for these shipments.   But since the local Ozinga facility opened last November, I've been trying to figure out what commodity(s) is handled, whether traffic is inbound, outbound or both and possible destinations. It became clear since January that BNSF w...

I have no problem with O'Brien Steel Service Co's plans, but I'm curious why it wants to relocate the crane system and steel storage area. Whatever the reason, it ties into the continued disuse of the 550 feet of Kellar Branch the City transferred to the firm in 2023. It appears that no one at these meetings is aware of that recent history. WCBU had a story posted on its website yesterday.  - David P. Jordan

After crossing the river on Interstate 474, I heard the Canadian National local crew get a warrant from IC Junction south (probably to Mount Pulaski). I figured the train had just departed East Peoria, so I turned around. It was passing Hilliards when I got back across the river. Train had a scrap metal load, alcohol loads and some ADM grain product loads from the Iowa Interstate.  CAPTION: Canadian National Railway train L557 (Local, E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) rolls along the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad as it enters Pekin, Illinois late-afternoon Tuesday, April 7, 2026. CN 3192 left East Peoria with 30 cars, and added three empties from Hanna Steel. Other scenes are at IC Junction in Pekin and at Hanna Drive. Final scene is at Fifth Street near South Pekin.   - David P. Jordan

After work, I caught this TP&W-CN grain extra rolling east through Secor, so I set up at El Paso and again at Gridley.  I had my camera set to "Auto," which unfortunately suffers from an object at the 1080 setting. I usually shoot 4k, so I switched it for the runby at Gridley.    TP&W-served elevators at Cruger (Grainland Farmers) and Chenoa (Prairie Central Cooperative) have loaded unit trains for BNSF, Canadian National, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific, all with run-through power. With this TP&W-CN train, I've now caught all five.  CAPTION: A Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway crew assembled a grain at Grainland Farmers' Cruger, Illinois elevator mid-afternoon Monday, April 6, 2026 and departed east for Gilman, Illinois where the train will be handed off to Canadian National Railway. Video locations are El Paso and Gridley. CN 2665 and CN 3978 have 113 cars.   - David P. Jordan

I knew it was coming, so I went after it.    First three covered hoppers were loads, gondola empty, four more covered hoppers loaded, another empty gondola, three more loaded covered hoppers, a tank car that was loaded (probably animal fat for TP&W). The first five of the last ten - all covered hoppers - were loaded. The empty gondolas are likely in steel billet service, returning to Norfolk Southern.  CAPTION: Iowa Interstate Railroad manifest SIPE (Silvis IL to Peoria IL) rolls by the Illinois Valley Yacht Club entrance early evening Saturday, April 4, 2026. Shortly, IAIS 517 dropped its 23 cars in the North Limit Yard. Plan was to proceed engine lite across the river to Wesley and grab potash empties after which it will depart as PEDAV (Peoria IL to Davenport IA).   - David P. Jordan