Peoria Station

I actually heard the horn just seconds before getting into my car at work.. Per another source, the FE Trading gons were scrap metal loads from Hitchcock's Canton transload consigned to Steel Dynamics in Butler, Indiana (which makes sense with all the junk loads moving the other direction in subsidiary OmniTrax gons).  The two BNSF covered hoppers were loaded with organic corn at Consolidated Grain & Barge Co's Burnside elevator and consigned to Rohrerstown, Pennsylvania. All were interchanged from the Keokuk Junction Railway via the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad at East Peoria.   CAPTION: Norfolk Southern train D49 (Normal IL to East Peoria IL turn) rolls by Deer Creek, Illinois on its return leg mid-afternoon Tuesday, May 9, 2023. NS 7014 and NS 3228 have 24 cars.   Going east to get the NS train risked missing my usual encounter with Union Pacific's MPECL, but I was able to catch it on the city's northwest side. Although a short train pulled by a single moto...

The Keokuk Junction Railway local ran eastbound Tuesday, and probably made an East Peoria run Wednesday, so I figured it would go west Thursday morning. I nearly missed my chance.  When I arrived Kolbe after 0930, the train was missing, but there were cars parked nearby. So I went to Glasford. As I approached the crossing, the flashers activated and the train rolled in front of me. I turned around and set up just off Devil's Washboard Road. Video also shows it creeping through Canton. No work at Hitchcock on this day. PREX 2032-2040-2018 have 36 cars. When I arrived back in Peoria, I saw BNSF Railway train M-GALPEI sitting at S. Darst Street, so I pulled off and parked on Krause Ave. Moments later, the train entered Tazewell & Peoria Railroad territory. BNSF 5660-8752 have 29 cars. Lack of nitrogen tank cars from Wever, Iowa makes for a short train.  - David P. Jordan

Finally, I caught the Keokuk Junction Railway switching Hitchcock Scrap Yard Inc's new Canton transload facility! Monday's regular westbound local left Mapleton with two loaded gondolas consigned to Hitchcock. They were placed on the rear of the short train to make dropping them easier and to avoid blocking Rt. 78.  This was the first time I've ever  watched a railroad switch an industry in Fulton County's largest city! Of course, there is a good reason for this - for decades, Canton has had no railroad-served industries .  When International Harvester Co. closed in late 1983, it seems that there were no others left that required rail servicde. Freeman United Coal Mining Co. closed its nearby Buckheart Mine in 1984 and  Burlington Northern closed its freight agency that year. The railroad continued local train service (Train No. 13815 out of Galesburg) for several more years to deliver lime to Central Illinois Light Company's Duck Creek Station and...

Business at Hitchcock Scrap Yard Inc's Canton property has been picking up a bit.  After an apparent lull from February activity, more regular operations have been noted in recent weeks. In fact, twice since mid-May the Keokuk Junction Railway (KJRY) has spotted a couple gondolas at a time here. Another car shown above arrived Wednesday.  Those prior cars carried markings (OMNX) used by OmniSource Inc., a Fort Wayne, Indiana-based metal recycler owned by Steel Dynamics Inc. While most observers have assumed Hitchcock would load scrap metal here and ship it to in Keokuk (Amsted Rail Griffin Wheel Div.) and perhaps Bartonville (Alter Metal Recycling/Keystone Steel & Wire), it appears all traffic is inbound, reportedly junk from auto parts plants. Loads are coming from Norfolk Southern. It is good to see a new rail user in Canton (the only one actually) and new business on the Keokuk Junction Railway. Hopefully, the relationship will be long and generate a substan...