Norfolk Southern D49 & D36 5-4-26

I'm not sure the last time Norfolk Southern D49 ran before today, but it must have been awhile. Monday's return trip had 89 cars! Besides five Caterpillar D10 tractor loads, the train had seven plastic loads from the Illinois & Midland, 24 ADM grain product loads from Iowa Interstate, 10 corn syrup tanks from the Keokuk Junction Railway and possibly some other interchange business. 

 

I came home from work unaware if the train had left, then received a tip, and headed out. I decided to try to capture the train rolling across the Mackinaw River east of Goodfield. Turns out, I should have just waited for it at Goodfield, and then gone on to Carlock. But I missed it at Yuton as I did not want to risk construction delays on I-74 east of Carlock. Fortunately, the D36 crew had already arrived and took the train on east after adding 43 more cars.

 

Recent reports have D32 (Decatur to Normal) running Sunday during the day (a wide window) and Monday through Friday during the night. Counterpart D36 (Normal to Decatur) seems to only run every three days, usually Mondays and Thursdays. The D49 job is called weekday mornings, and usually makes an East Peoria trip at least twice a week, usually three, and occasionally four. This was a similar pattern (for D36 at least) which developed during the last few years Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America was operating (it closed by late-2015).

 

Implementation of Precision Scheduled Railroading (TOP-21) by early 2019 initially brought a more consistent schedule for D32/D36 and D49 but it apparently came with higher pricing to justify increased frequency. If necessary, an extra (D47) was called to relieve D49 and sometimes made an East Peoria turn on Saturday or Sunday. Despite better service offerings (at least initially), business dropped off. COVID restrictions only made this worse, and probably masked the clumsy implementation of PSR. Congestion at Decatur and insufficient number of operating personnel worsened the situation. 

 

The business is there. Hopefully, Rivian's plans for increased production with the introduction of its R2 model this year will require better and more frequent service. The R2 model got an entirely new assembly plant, just east of the existing one. There is talk of adding capacity at Good Yard to support increased vehicle shipments. Round-the-clock switching operations are reportedly planned as well. That will probably require local service three shifts per day, probably similar to what NS did in 2012 when the MMMA plant was retooled for Outlander Sport. D46 was the day job, which also made an East Peoria turn, D47 was the afternoon job and D49 was back on as the night job. This could happen again, and D36 will likely need to run daily, if not most days. Such changes should improve service to Peoria-Pekin industries and connections. 

CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway train D49 (Local, Normal IL to E. Peoria IL turn) rolls across the trestle spanning the Mackinaw River on its return leg to Good Yard at Normal, Illinois late-afternoon Monday, May 4, 2026. This location, between Goodfield and Congerville, on the Bloomington District, is getting tighter thanks to increasing vegetation. Later, D36 (Local, Normal IL to Decatur IL) rolls across W. Market Street on Bloomington's west side. NS 6923, NS 6968, NS 6972 and NS 7035 left East Peoria with 89 cars. After becoming D36 at Good Yard in Normal, it added 43 cars on the head end, giving it a total of 132 cars. Most of the added cars will be set out at Gibson City for International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) or the Bloomer Line interchange.

 

- David P. Jordan