Peoria Station

Saturday afternoon, April 23, 2022, Canadian National Railway local L525 switched two customers at a small industrial park on Decatur, Illinois' northeast side. GTW 4934 and IC 3117 spotted a load and pulled an empty from Morgan Distributing Inc., and dug out three empties left by Parke Toll Packing & Blending, before shoving down the line. It was good to see CN running on it own line for a chance. I've seen Decatur Junction Railway (DT) and even the Decatur & Eastern Illinois RR running on a portion of this line. Even better, watching a Class I servicing an industry on a branchline is irresistable! Research reveals that Morgan Distributing Inc. opened its facility here in 1954, followed by Ring Can Corp. in 1984 and Parke-Toll Packing & Blending in 1996. The last one must have a trackmobile to move cars to and from CN's preferred pickup/setout spot.  The industrial lead serving these industries diverges from the former Illinois Central Railroad line to White He...

  I again caught a Canadian National Railway switching Amerhart and Hanna Steel. Thursday, March 25, 2021, I happened to hear radio chatter between the crew of Canadian National Railway's southbound local, L557, and the dispatcher. I only caught part of the conversation but knew the dispatcher had given L557's crew a track warrant to run from IC Junction at Pekin to Mount Pulaski. That meant the train was close to Pekin. I was just across the river. So it was prudent to investigate.  I saw five steel coil loads and three lumber loads left at the siding just north of Derby Street. The northbound local, L556, usually leaves these cars for the next day's L557. But where was L557? Moments later, I found a Tazewell & Peoria Railroad (TZPR) crew assembling a train for East Peoria. Their dispatcher (based at St. Albans, Vermont) gave them permission to run past IC Junction to East Peoria. So either the CN local had just cleared IC Junction or had yet to leave East Peoria. Turn...