Peoria Station

I just came across a publication at my local library called Choose Greater PEORIA Illinois , produced by livability dot com. On page 23, a community profile lists "transportation assets," which include two items which caught my eye- Five Class 1 railroads for hauling cargo Six short line railroads Both are incorrect. Greater Peoria, a designation that based on the magazine's other content matches the five-county official metropolitan area, is served by four Class Is, one Regional and four shortlines.  American common-carrier railroads are designated as Class I, Class II ("Regional") and Class III ("Shortlines"). These are broken down using annual revenue by the then-Interstate Commerce Commission critieria introduced in 1992 - $504,803,294 minimum for Class Is and $40,384,263 minimum for Class IIs. Carriers with annual revenue below the Class II minimum standard are designated as Class IIIs.  The Class Is are BNSF Railway, Canadian National Railway, No...

I had hopes that pe updates on social media this afternoon, Union Pacific's MPECL would depart later than usual, and that I'd be able to see it after work.   Turns out, it still left too early.   I wanted to check the signal at W. Farmington Road, but as I approved from the west, the gates lowered and flashers activated. Then I saw the Canadian National colors and the Komatsu truck chassis loads and immediately knew that BNSF's M-PEIGAL was approaching. Train is a day late, unless something has changed.  It is always a treat to see Komatsu and/or Caterpillar loads on any train leaving the city.  CAPTION: BNSF Railway train M-PEIGAL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Galesburg IL) rolls through Edwards, Illinois mid-afternoon Tuesday, December 16, 2025. Train is a day late unless changes have been made to this train's schedule. CN 2891 and CN 2523 have 15 cars. - David P. Jordan

I missed BNSF M-GALPEI coming into town early this afternoon, but checked later for the chance the crew would turn back with M-PEIGAL. No such happening. Instead, the crew was driven to Grove where it boarded the feed train brought up by CN yesterday.  CAPTION: BNSF Railway train G-PEISMR (Grain, Peoria IL to Summerfield TX) is shown in several scenes departing the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad and on home rails mid- to late-afternoon Sunday, October 27, 2024. BNSF 4401 and BNSF 3896 had 100 gluten feed pellet loads. Entire train is shown at W. Farmington Road. Final scene is a power runby at Kramm Road, just west of Edwards.    - David P. Jordan

When I swung by Adams Street Yard Tuesday afternoon, I could not confirm yet that a crew was aboard Union Pacific's MPECL. So I parked off Krause Ave. and waited. But BNSF had brought in an X-SMRPEI empty feed pellet train for Decatur (via Canadian National) and the crew radioed the dispatcher shortly after I arrived.  CAPTION: BNSF Railway train X-SMRPEI (Grain Empties, Summerfield TX to Peoria IL) has just entered the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad at S. Darst Street in Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Tuesday, June 25, 2024. BNSF 6952 and BNSF 6614 were on the point. Gluten feed empties will move via Canadian National to ADM at Decatur, Illinois.   After grabbing video of the BNSF feed empties, the Union Pacific crew asked the dispatcher for instructions. A work train was moving north, so MPECL was given a track warrant to Pioneer in the interim. Tuesday's train was unusually short. The third unit, however, makes me think Monday's MCLPE must have been a big train.  CAPT...

One of these arrived Tuesday, only five days ago. The crew of today's X-SMRPEI told the TZPR St. Albans dispatcher that Galesburg wanted the power back. So as soon as they dropped the train at Pekin, both units went back west engine lite.  CAPTION: BNSF Railway X-SMRPEI train (Grain Empties, Summerfield TX to Peoria IL) enters the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad at Darst Street in Peoria, Illinois mid-day Sunday, February 25, 2024. BNSF 4114 and BNSF 6608 have 96 gluten feed empties for interchange to Canadian National at the Pekin's double track south end.   David P. Jordan

CAPTION: Toledo, Peoria & Western road freight M-EFEP (Manifest, Effner IL to E. Peoria IL) is shown at locations at or near Weston, Chenoa, Gridley, El Paso, Eureka and Washington, Illinois Saturday afternoon, November 11, 2023. The entire train is shown at each. TPW 2070, IORY 5007, TPW 5010, and IORY 5014 have 121 cars from on-line industries and CSX and CN interchanges.   A nice sunny late-morning and early-afternoon in November is a good time to get a westbound TP&W freight!  A lot of typical TP&W freight business is represented on today's train. - The first 15 cars are loaded with limestone shipped from The Rogers Group/Newton County Stone in Perkins, Indiana and consigned to East Peoria Materials, located on the east end of the TP&W yard (and to celebrate 20 years in January 2024!). - Fourteen TPW-marked cyclindrical covered hoppers might have been pulled from the Ludlow Co-Operative Elevator Company at La Hogue. (Crescent City is possible, but newer, 2...

I rushed into town this afternoon after work because I figured Union Pacific MPECL was going to be a decent-sized train, including that boxcar traffic from the Keokuk Junction Railway.  Boy was it! When I swung by Adams Street Yard, the train was strung out onto the Low Line from one end of the yard to well west of the SW Adams Street/US 24 viaduct. I waited and waited, but not activity. But I heard the CN local get permission to depart East Peoria so I crossed the river and found it leaving the yard. I shot this video at Hilliards. today's train had a decent mix of covered hoppers, tank cars and gondolas.  CAPTION: Canadian National Railway local L557 (E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) rolls along the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's double track Pekin mainline at Hilliards (Creve Coeur), Illinois late-afternoon Tuesday, June 20, 2023. CN 8892, CN 5799 and UP 7637 have 36 cars.   I had to wait until almost 1930 hours for the Union Pacific freight to leave. After bidding adieu...

Sunday afternoon I checked TP&W's East Peoria Yard where I found a crew working the west end with MQT 3407 and TPW 1538. I deducted that they were building a train for Collier Yard, but thought I had time to go home. I returned less than an hour later to find the train gone. I found it on the Nickel Plate, waiting for a TZPR train to enter the East Peoria Yard from the Pekin mainline. The bridge was up, so I parked off the Foot of Sanger Street and waited.  I decided to mix it up a bit and include video of a barge tow passing beneath the bridge. Excited geese are seen between the beginning and the end. I also included the bridge being lowered for the TP&W train.  CAPTION: A barge tow floats by, exciting the geese before the Tazewell & Peoria RR Illinois River Bridge comes down for the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway's EP-3 Job. Shown at Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Sunday, February 19, 2023, MQT 3407 and TPW 1538 have 13 cars - five for Mapleton industries ...

  I had some errands to do before heading east Sunday for a long planned trip: Pay bills, oil change, etc.  On my way back through East Peoria, I came across some orange units working the west end of TP&W's East Peoria Yard. I got some lunch nearby, hoping for some action 15-20 minutes later if I lingered. I'm happy with the result: A TP&W-to-TZPR transfer rounds the curve before entering the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard early afternoon Saturday, September 10, 2022. IMRR 1550 and IMRR 43 have 64 cars (15 loads, 49 empties). I wasn't disappointed. Train likely has a Tazewell & Peoria RR crew because TZPR 1550 led a local from Kickapoo Yard to East Peoria Friday and IMRR 43, which returned recently after getting new paint and [resumably] some mechanical work, is usually assigned to TZPR service. For railfans, the value of social media and smart phones is immense. I learned CN local L556, which I have been told usually makes a Decatur-to-Mo...

Two hours, 24 minutes in length - It literally took all day, New Year's Eve, to merge the video files, save the video and then upload to YouTube. The audio is a little inconsistent for the first hour, and I'm sure I'll need to clarify some information in the comments, but... Peoria, Illinois and its suburbs boast nine common carrier railroads, heavy industry and an exciting variety of facilities and operations sure to please visitors. But some train operations are unpredictable, and the rail lines confusing for those unfamiliar with the territory. Hopefully, maps, scenes and narration will help you navigate this exciting and historical railroad town! Excerpts of videos already posted on my channel, mostly in 2021, are used to describe the current railscene.   - David P. Jordan

This was the longest train I had ever seen.  One week ago, Sunday, April 28, 2019, I was standing trackside west of Malta, Illinois along Union Pacific's Geneva Subdivision when this monster freight train passed. Despite the overcast and wind, I think my video turned out pretty well. The block of twin-bay covered hoppers right behind the two locomotives made me first think it was a unit frac sand train, but the Cryo-Trans reefers quickly confirmed that it was a manifest ("mixed freight"). With the help of social media, I can also confirm that it was MPRNP (Manifest, Proviso IL to North Platte NE).  I expected a long train. After 97 cars and a locomotive mid-train set up as Distributed Power Unit (DPU), I knew it would be a long one indeed. The train kept coming and coming and coming, 101 more cars! At 198 cars, this was the longest train I had ever seen. I believe its length was due to the numerous Trinity Reefers sprinkled throughout, including a 25-ca...

The weather on this final day of 2018 should have kept me indoors, but I found some local train action instead. First, I caught Norfolk Southern's local D49 arriving the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria (IL) Yard early this afternoon. NS 3375 & NS 3221 have 49 cars (my second encounter in two months that the train's car count and symbol were coincidentally the same). The nine coil steel loads are mostly likely to be interchanged to Iowa Interstate. The Tazewell & Peoria Railroad ran a transfer to the TP&W's East Peoria Yard shortly after the NS pulled in. TZPR 1520 delivered 23 cars to the TP&W then returned engine lite. This unit is an ex-Apalachicola & Northern SW-1500. Next, I had a dilemma. Canadian National's Peoria Local was in town, and had been given permission to depart so I waited briefly at Wesley Road. The train stopped, and moments later, I heard the dispatcher give D49 permission to depart. I chose...

Saturday was a good day. That morning, I noticed three UP units moving toward Peoria. I quickly concluded I couldn't catch them before the Brauer Road crossing, but did notice this empty grain train waiting to depart. I turned around and found a good sunny location. I'm assuming that this train was bound for Rock River Lumber & Grain at Sterling. At W. Alta Road, UP motors 5472 and 6268 led 75 cars with 5834 as DPU. My intent Saturday morning was to reach Springfield and wait for the passage of a second Union Pacific blade train that was passing through St. Louis after sunrise. I parked near Springfield's Amtrak depot and waited. Almost immediately, Amtrak 301, the Lincoln Service train from Chicago to St. Louis, coasted to its scheduled stop. Amtrak's new SC-44 "Charger" locomotives are being assigned to these trains this month. No. 4604 has an all- Horizon Fleet consist.  Minutes after 301's departure, Amtrak 22, the San Anto...

Each winter, the Upper Mississippi River, from about Keokuk, Iowa north, is closed to commercial navigation for about three months from the second week of December. As a result, a number of all-water movements shift to rail-barge and Peoria-Pekin area terminals experience a surge in volume.  Whereas Grain Processing Corp. (Muscatine, Iowa) and Archer Daniels Midland Co. (Clinton, Iowa) ship gluten feed pellets and/or distillers dried grain supplement (DDGS, or "grain mash") down the Mississippi River from April thru November, they must ship these large volume, bulk commodities to an active barge loadout during December thru March.  The Iowa Interstate Railroad (IAIS) benefits from this seasonal shift in transportation. Grain Processing Corp. and Archer Daniels Midland Co. typically route feed products via the Canadian Pacific Railway to the IAIS at Davenport, Iowa. From there, IAIS hauls this traffic to the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard for...

After work this afternoon, I immediately headed for Wesley Road to check on Canadian National’s Peoria Local.  I learned that an SD70, still in Illinois Central black, was second unit when the train made its northbound run out of Decatur late this morning and early afternoon. CN acquired the IC in 1999 and seeing locomotives wearing original IC black paint is becoming increasingly rare, so I had to check it out.  Sure enough, when I got there (about 4:10 p. m.), the CN crew called the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's St. Albans [Vermont] Dispatcher for permission to depart East Peoria. Once a TZPR Industry Job cleared, the CN local itself was cleared to depart East Peoria and run to IC Jct. in Pekin (where it returns to home rails). I waited a little while until CN 2253 & IC 1005 crept across Wesley Road with 21 cars, including two CB&I bent steel loads received from the IAIS. Video shot at Hilliards and downtown Pekin, both views on TZPR trackage. ...