Peoria Station

When I left work at 3:00pm Tuesday afternoon, I learned that Union Pacific's MPECL had left Adams Street Yard later than usual, and was reported at Harmon Highway (Rt. 116) on Peoria's southwest side about 30 minutes earlier. I debated whether to try and catch it. I had left my camera in the car just in case.   Given the time it would take to get to the Union Pacific's Peoria Sub due to traffic and construction, I told myself "no" and went home. Minutes later, I learned the train had paused at W. Farmington Road due to an issue with the twelfth car dropping its air and went for it... CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) is shown south and again north of Camp Grove, Illinois late-afternoon Tuesday, September 29, 2026. NS 7613, UP 5726 and UP 2742 have 88 cars. Slower-than-usual speed may be due to a rough-riding gondola in the block of 35 maintenance-of-way cars on the rear. - David P. Jordan

Co-habitating before they can even set a wedding date! NS 7614 leads UP 5726 and 35 cars for Peoria late Tuesday afternoon on MCLPE. This train seems to have been running earlier for the past month. Used to be called late-evening at Clinton, Iowa on Sundays and Wednesdays, and arrive Peoria sometime before the LDP01 job went on duty at 0800. Seeing these trains in the afternoon and evening on Sundays and Wednesdays indicates a much earlier call time, likely late-morning.  CAPTION: Union Pacific MCLPE (Manifest, Clinton IA to Peoria IL) rolls by Milepost 80, the old Molitor Junction, in Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Wednesday, September 16, 2026. NS 7613 and UP 5726 have 35 cars for Adams Street Yard where the train will be shortly The old Milwaukee Road bicentennial unit is cool. Even better, it visited Peoria! I was asleep when it arrived the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard, probably early this morning, on Norfolk Southern's now-nocturnal D49 local. But go...

A late departure enabled me to capture MPECL after work Tuesday, just like the good old days before November 2024... This train had 28 empty covered hoppers on the head end that are of the type used for trona shipments to NRG Energy's Powerton Station.  Behind these were six loaded corn syrup tank cars, and nine more further back. These are almost certainly from the Keokuk Junction Railway-served Roquette America's Keokuk, Iowa wet corn refinery. If so, routing is KJRY-UP.  I don't think I've seen that many loaded corn syrup tank cars on MPECL since winter 2022 when Roquette shifted business temporarily to KJRY-UP when BNSF was threatened with a labor strike.  CAPTION: Union Pacific MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road shortly after leaving Adams Street Yard in Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Tuesday, September 15, 2026. Later, the train crests Pioneer Hill on Peoria's northwest side. UP 5726 has 71 cars. - David P. Jordan

After work today, I planning to check out Bartlett Grain Co's recently-completed "El Camino" (Sheffield) elevator on Union Pacific's Peoria Subdivision, but when I saw the green signal indication for a southbound at Edelstein, I decided to follow the line closely in hopes of catching a train movement.  Tall corn can obstruct trains where there are no parallel roads, so my progress was slow. On Sundays and Wednesdays, there is always a possibility that MCLPE will run early, and this Wednesday it did. Turns out, had I gone to El Camino first thing, I would have gotten both, and in better lighting. Train consist is typical. Notables are four salt boxcars for TP&W and five corn syrup loads (one as first car, used as a buffer for an empty alcohol tank car) consigned to TZPR-served PMP Fermentation. A lone empty Ozinga (OZIX) 2-bay covered hopper indicates Union Pacific is getting some outbound cement materials (slag and coal ash) business. CAPTION: Union Pacific trai...

When I was in Bloomington-Normal Thursday evening, I noticed that D32 had brought in quite a few cars for TZPR and connections, including steel coils for IAIS and steel scrap for Liberty Steel & Wire. I figured they'd run D49 on Friday. But when I decided to head into East Peoria this morning, I was seconds from missing it. Driving US 150 from Morton, I noticed the tail end on TP&W's West End. Fortunately, I head a green light at E. Washington Street. I pulled into the left of two turn lanes at the N. Main Street intersection just in time to shoot a going away video. It took an hour for D49 to turn around and depart with the outbound. Midday lighting this time of year can be a challenge, but Carver Lane proved to be a good location.  Besides three steel coil loads for Iowa Interstate and 13 NS/WRWK gondolas that I believe contained scrap metal for Liberty Steel & Wire (I've seen TZPR locals handling these to and from Kickapoo Yard), there were two empty BNSF cov...

I did not expect to see this one as typical crew call time is much earlier.   I even left home later than usual, but still managed to see a late-running Union Pacific MPECL. I often run by the south side of Peoria enroute to the downtown library in case BNSF's M-GALPEI, the KJRY local, a TZPR local out of Kickapoo Yard and maybe a TP&W EP2 or EPX1 are in the area.    It appears that three corn syrup tank cars in front and one behind the two boxcars are KJRY traffic, obviously from Roquette America's Keokuk, Iowa wet corn mill. The loaded UP coal hopper is strange.   CAPTION:   Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road shortly after leaving Adams Street Yard in Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Friday, March 13, 2026. UP 5879 has 28 cars. - David P. Jordan

I left work this afternoon with some hope that Norfolk Southern's D49 local would still be in East Peoria. Thursday, I noticed a couple strings of cars in the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's yard that looked like NS outbound traffic (wire rod loads from Liberty Steel & Wire being one clue). Sure enough, when I drove by the north end of the yard, two NS motors were on the point of a healthy-looking train.    Notable traffic included twelve wire rod loads from Liberty Steel & Wire and 17 plastic pellet loads from the Illinois & Midland RR. The four AEX-marked covered hoppers were the empties.  CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway Train D49 (Normal IL to E. Peoria IL Turn) is shown departing the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad in East Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Friday, August 1, 2025. NS 7034 and NS 6923 have 53 cars (49 loads/4 empties). While waiting for the NS train's departure, I kept hearing radio chatter indicating a BNSF freight was in the yard wa...

I was able to capture Union Pacific's MPECL early this afternoon.    The long cut of tank cars look like what I saw on the Low Line since last Thursday. Friday's train had only four cars, so perhaps they mostly empties for today's run? Basic make-up:   SIX corn syrup empties THREE industrial alcohol (UN 1170) loads TWO steepwater loads ONE denatured alcohol (UN 1987) load ONE industrial alcohol (UN 1170) load ONE plastic pellet empty THREE corn syrup empties ONE corn gluten meal/feed/DDGS? load THREE plastic pellet empties  ONE scrap metal empty ONE beverage alcohol (UN 3065) load THREE corn syrup empties  ONE industrial alcohol (UN 1170) load ONE beverage alcohol (UN 3065) load ONE corn gluten meal/feed/DDGS load? ONE plastic pellet empty TWO beverage alcohol (UN 3065) loads TWENTY-NINE trona (dry sorbent) empties THIRTEEN grain product empties   Origins are Alto Ingredients, BioUrja Renewables, Alter Metal Recycling/Liberty Steel ...

I took today off from work. Despite the rain, I decided to check on Union Pacific train MPECL. Sure enough, as I drove by Adams Street Yard shortly before 1:00pm, it was just moving toward Peoria Junction.  CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road shortly after leaving Adams Street Yard in Peoria, Illinois early afternoon Friday, June 20, 2025. UP 6452 has 46 cars. I got home this afternoon thinking Union Pacific's MPECL was the only local movement I'd record today, but not long after uploading the video, I learned that a TP&W eastbound manifest was cleared to depart East Peoria for Milepost 52 (just west of Fairbury). Possible mechanical issues delayed the train's departure by more than an hour, but I was able to capture its passage at Cruger, Illinois. CAPTION: A Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway eastbound, often referred to as MEPEF (handled by the EPX2 crew), rolls by Grainland Cooperative's Cruger...

I left work early for an appointment but had an hour to kill. Amazingly, this train was already approaching W. Farmington Road when I found it, and barely had time to set up at Pottstown...   Since this train has an earlier call time (probably noon) the past two months, I won't be seeing it much. I expect to have a few chances by spring and into the summer on MCLPE if it runs early on some Wednesdays and Sundays.  CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL rolls by Pottstown, Illinois early-afternoon Tuesday, January 7, 2025. UP 7226 has 49 cars. After the appointment was taken care of, I went into East Peoria and found Norfolk Southern local D49 leaving the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard. The first sixteen cars are for sure from the Keokuk Junction Railway, which ran a East Peoria turn Monday afternoon.  CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway train D49 rolls under the TP&W's Farmdale Trestle on the outskirts of East Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Tuesda...

Run-through IAIS power on P&PU/TZPR dates to the late-1980s. In fact, a first, vague memory of IAIS power was in downtown Peoria in 1989. I saw a geep on the riverfront line from one of the intersections at SW Washington Street. I probably knew about the IAIS already due to the June 1989 "Regionals in Review" TRAINS article. CAPTION: A Tazewell & Peoria Railroad crew runs a train of potash empties through Peoria, Illinois early afternoon Saturday, December 28, 2024. Train came out of Mosaic Crop Nutrition LLC south of Bartonville and was handed off to the Iowa Interstate Railroad at the North Limit Yard. Shown between S. Darst Street and Krause Avenue, IAIS 707 and IAIS 718 have 105 cars.    The usual Friday run of MPECL was annulled, probably due to crew issues. It seems that either the LPD01 local crew or MPECL's crew assisted with CGMBV's attack up Pioneer Hill. After that, an empty grain from for TP&W moved from Edelstein to the Low Line and park...

When I swung by Adams Street Yard for second time today just before 3:00pm, and saw that Union Pacific's MPECL had already departed. So I turned around and headed up I-474 and then Rt. 6, jogged US 150 and up Rt. 91.  I decided to check the signal on Alta Road. It is normally green for southbounds, but today it was dark. Hoping the train hadn't yet made it to this location, I went to Ridgeview Road and parked by Pioneer. Not a minute later, I hear MPECL coming up the hill...   Today's train must have been called for 2:00pm and departed Adams Street Yard about 30 to 40 minutes later. Given the single unit and relatively lengthy train (though mostly empties), I'd guess it took nearly 50 minutes to reach this location.    New Year's Eve should be another opportunity to see this train.  CAPTION: Union Pacific MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) crests Pioneer Hill on Peoria, Illinois' northwest side mid-afternoon Tuesday, December 24, 2024. UP 7226 has ...

Tuesday's Union Pacific MPECL had to wait on a southbound Powerton-bound coal train, but left a little after 4:00pm. Reportedly, the train stalled on Pioneer Hill and had to double the hill and re-assemble the train to continue. Of note were twelve empty ballast hoppers mid-train.  CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road shortly after leaving Adams Street Yard in Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Tuesday, October 29, 2024. UP 8055 has 46 cars. - David P. Jordan

I arrived home from south Florida in mid-afternoon, so I decided to check on Union Pacific's MPECL. Sure enough, it was parked ready to depart on the Low Line when I drove by Adams Street Yard. I heard chatter on the Union Pacific road channel, probably PTC issues. The train did not depart until a half-hour later, around 4:00pm.  CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road after departing Adams Street Yard in Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Tuesday, October 22, 2024. UP 8264 has 48 cars.   - David P. Jordan

Although it is Friday the 13th, seeing Union Pacific's MPECL makes it a good day.    CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road late-afternoon Friday, September 13, 2024. UP 2681 has 31 cars.   - David P. Jordan

A Canadian Pacific unit led Union Pacific's MPECL out of town this afternoon. The short train was otherwise unremarkable.  CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by Milepost 80 shortly after departing Adams Street Yard in Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Tuesday, September 10, 2024. Later, it enters the double track at Pottstown. CP 8006 has 24 cars. David P. Jordan

After work, I checked Adams Street Yard for Union Pacific's MPECL. It was there, but it did not appear that the crew was aboard. I did notice a BNSF grain train holding short of Darst Street. Lights were on, and radio chatter indicated that TP&W's EP-X (East Peoria Extra Switcher) crew was aboard and ready to cross the river and head east.  CAPTION: A TP&W EP-X (East Peoria Extra) crew runs a BNSF grain train onto the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad for the trip cross the river and on east to Prairie Central Co-Op's Chenoa for loading. CP 9776, BNSF 5545 and BNSF 4315 have 115 cars. BNSF 7756 is DPU.   As soon as the grain train cleared my position, MPECL's crew was receiving successive track warrants from Peoria Junction to Pottstown, Pottstown to Pioneer and Pioneer to Milepost 3 at Nelson.  CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road shortly after departing Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Friday, Se...

I had a meeting after work this afternoon, but as it did not last too long, I headed to W. Farmington Road, noted the green signal indication for a northbound, turned around and parked. Mere moments later, Union Pacific's MPECL activated the gates and I got my video! CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road shortly after departing Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Tuesday, August 27, 2024. UP 8841 has 31 cars.   - David P. Jordan

I did not have to wait for very long this afternoon for my most frequent encounter. Short train today, but that is okay.  CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road shortly after departing Adams Street Yard in Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Friday, August 23, 2024. UP 8841 has 28 cars. UPDATE: While at the downtown library this afternoon, I learned that an eastbound TP&W road freight was approaching Washington. Given the speed restriction to Cruger, I figured I could get ahead of it, which I did.  CAPTION: Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway train M-EPEF (Manifest, E. Peoria IL to Effner IL) rolls by Cruger, Illinois early-evening Friday, August 23, 2024. HESR 3485, IORY 5013, TPW 5010 and TPW 3440 have 44 cars. - David P. Jordan

Shortly after I drove by Adams Street Yard, I picked up quite a bit of radio chatter on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's yard channel (160.500), indicating Norfolk Southern D49 and Canadian National's L557 might have been in the East Peoria Yard. I crossed the river and heard a TP&W-BNSF grain train get permission from Farmdale to P&PU Junction, by W. Washington Street, the Nickel Plate and across the river. I saw nothing while there, though I believe the NS local had just cleared Farmdale when the grain train received instructions.    BNSF's M-PEIGAL actually crossed the river ahead of the grain train, but I did not shoot any video, as did not realize what it was in time. Too bad bcause CN 3061 and CN 3334 are on the point! I stuck around to catch a Tazewell & Peoria RR local. CAPTION: A Tazewell & Peoria Railroad local, probably Industry 3, rolls by Krause Ave enroute from Kickapoo Yard to East Peoria late-afternoon Tuesday, August 13, 2024. TZPR 1352...