Peoria Station

I got the blues...all three of them!   The Iowa Interstate's SIPE arrived early Wednesday morning with HZRX 5003, an ex-Hudson Bay Railway SD50, for interchange to Norfolk Southern. It was parked on the Creve Coeur Team Track, and still there as of this evening.   After snapping a pics from the Wesley Road crossing, I crossed the river and heard the Keokuk Junction Railway local ask the St. Albans Dispatcher for permission to enter the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad at Iowa Junction for head room. When I arrived, they shoved a boxcar into Collier Yard and then proceeded eastward.    I didn't get much time at the downtown library, but did linger in the area long enough to capture the Keokuk Junction Railway local on its return leg to Mapleton.  The boxcar on the head end is unusual, but it is either a storage car or perhaps Amsted Rail/Griffin Wheel Div. in Keokuk is routing locomotive wheels to a non-UP destination.  CAPTION:   The Keokuk Juncti...

I left Peoria's far south side before hearing the Union Pacific dispatcher give MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) track warrants go north. When I arrived W. Farmington Road (the best location for sunshine this time of year), the position light signal displayed yellow in both directions. Within minutes (about 4:30 pm), the southbound signal turned red, which meant the northbound turned green. I figured MPECL had the line up from Peoria Junction. And yet I waited for more than 45 minutes. Impatient, I left and headed down Kickapoo Creek Road to find the train coming! Fortunately, it was crawling, so I was able to turn around and return to my prior location in time for video. UP 5394 had 69 cars. The train stalled shortly after I shot this scene. About 15 cars were left behind at Adams Street. I know that I see this train a lot, and share the video here. But it is generally predictable, and I've wanted to monitor traffic in hopes that Union Pacific pivots to growth. There ...