Peoria Station

No Caterpillar loads on this Monday. The first 13 cars (maybe 14, but that car is empty) were from Friday's Keokuk Junction Railway delivery. Ten cars near the end are likely ADM corn germ/meal, etc. from the Iowa Interstate.  CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway train D49 (Local, Normal IL to E. Peoria turn) is shown on its return leg to Good Yard at Normal, Illinois mid-afternoon Monday, June 29, 2026. First scene is at N. Main Street in Morton's outskirts and then again at Deer Creek with a slow order. NS 3228, NS 7021 and NS 5116 (Des Moines unit via IAIS) have 45 cars. - David P. Jordan

When I learned D49 had permission to depart the Nickel Plate this afternoon, I decided to head it off at Farmdale Trestle area, got impatient and was on the wrong side of the Farmdale Road crossing in East Peoria when I saw it. I had to use I-74 to Goodfield to make sure I did not miss it again. Looks like I missed a CN monster L557 though... I can't complain. It is good to see that heavy Iowa Interstate interchange (mostly ADM) swelling consists. NS is delivering both steel coils and steel billets to IAIS, so regular loads are interchanged in both directions! Btw, when I first saw the train in East Peoria, about 1532, radio chatter mentioned D47. That train, as far as I know, has been an extra job for years. First I've heard it in awhile. With Rivian Automotive introducing the R2 model along with a new, dedicated assembly building on the main plant's east side (former test track), perhaps an afternoon job has been established to finish D49's work?  CAPTION: Norfolk ...

I went to Deer Creek and waited, then chased to Carlock and Yuton. Five Caterpillar D9 tractor loads were worth the chase. Four OZIX (Ozinga) 2-bay covered hoppers were loaded, but based on their appearance on a D49 in July 2025 (before Ozinga's Peoria transfer dock was built) they might contain granulated slag from Harsco's Powerton plant (they are with EQUX plastic cars and other slag loads that most certainly came from IMRR).  CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway train D49 (Normal IL to E. Peoria IL turn) is shown at Deer Creek, Illinois on its return leg from East Peoria to Good Yard in Normal, Illinois mid-afternoon Monday, May 11, 2026. Later, it rolls through Carlock and pauses at Yuton so the conductor can line the switch into the make up track at Good Yard. NS 6968 and NS 6923 have 50 cars. Note five Caterpillar D9 track-type tractor loads.   M-PEIGAL will have 2? locomotives picked up from the Creve Coeur Team Track.  CAPTION: BNSF Railway M-GALPEI (Manifest,...

It has been awhile since Norfolk Southern's D49 has made an East Peoria turn late enough for me to see the return leg after work. When I got to East Peoria, and heard the dispatcher give it permission from P&PU Junction to Farmdale, I realized that I forgot my camera, so the phone camera had to do. I believe the train had 15 loads and 17 empties.  CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway train D49 (Normal IL to E. Peoria turn) is shown departing the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad at P&PU Junction in East Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Monday, February 23, 2026. Later, the train is shown on home rails at Farmdale and again at Deer Creek. NS 6923 and NS 6972 have 32 cars.   - David P. Jordan

I had to go further than I wanted on account of this afternoon's snow showers. My favorite spots at N. Main Street (outside Morton) and Crandall probably weren't clear of snow, so I opted for Deer Creek.   The three Caterpillar tractor loads were on TZPR 68-foot flats, so I'm thinking these were D11s. The other 19 cars were from the Keokuk Junction Railway. Obviously, the Thanksgiving holiday and weekend affected the traffic mix for the week's first D49.  CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway train D49 (Normal IL to E. Peoria IL turn) rolls through Deer Creek, Illinois on its return leg from East Peoria, Illinois to Good Yard in Normal late afternoon Monday, December 1, 2025. NS 7021 and NS 7035 have 22 cars, including three Caterpillar tractor loads. - David P. Jordan

I learned that Norfolk Southern's D49 local left East Peoria around 3:00pm, just as I was leaving work. So I went home, grabbed my camera and set up at N. Main Street. I did not have to wait for long. I decided to grab another shot at Deer Creek, but by then it was raining so I switched to my phone camera.    Today's train was nothing special, other than having the GoRail unit (NS 6963) a second unit.  CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway train D49 (Normal IL to E. Peoria IL turn) is shown on its return leg back to Good Yard in Normal, Illinois mid-afternoon Monday, November 24, 2025. Scenes are at N. Main Street in Morton and again at Deer Creek. NS 7021 and NS 6963 have 17 cars.   - David P. Jordan

I just happened to notice the tail end of Norfolk Southern train D49 at Farmdale Switch in East Peoria, so I turned around and set up at Deer Creek and again at Carlock for video. Notice today's train has the same number of cars (23) as Wednesday's. CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway train D49 (Normal IL to E. Peoria IL Turn) is shown on its return leg to Good Yard in Normal, Illinois mid- to late-afternoon Friday, September 12, 2025. Scenes are at Deer Creek and Carlock. NS 4411, NS 7111 and NS 7034 have 23 cars.   - David P. Jordan

I was stuck at work until 3:00pm today but learned that a Norfolk Southern extra (D09) had been called to fetch 53 grain loads from the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad in East Peoria. In late-summer, local grain elevators empty their silos to prepare for the harvest, thus unusual movements like this.     ADM Grain Co's Hilliards (Creve Coeur) elevator loaded these cars during the past week. The elevator can only handle 25 (or so) at a time, so TZPR had to pull one cut and spot more and combine them. I noticed what was probably part of the train sitting on the Nickel Plate on Thursday. Given the train's length, I am assuming it is consigned to an ADM plant in Decatur.  CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Train D09 (Bloomington District Extra) rolls between Deer Creek and Goodfield, Illinois mid-afternoon on September 6, 2025, a rare Saturday run out of East Peoria. NS 7561 and NS 9747 have 53 cars loaded at ADM Grain's Hilliards, Illinois elevator.   - David P. Jorda...

I don't think D49 ran on Friday, so two days' worth of traffic plus Keokuk Junction Railway interchange  blocked on the head end explains why Monday's return trip to Good Yard swelled to an unusually heavy 58 cars.  I was hoping that there would be at least one Caterpillar tractor load (common on Monday), and that wire rod shipments from Liberty Steel & Wire Co. would have resumed by now on this train.  CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway train D49 (Normal IL to E. Peoria IL turn) is shown mid- to late-afternoon Monday, May 5, 2025 on its return leg from East Peoria, Illinois to Good Yard in Normal. First scene shows the train leaving the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad at N. Main Street in East Peoria following by the train attacking the hill at N. Main Street in Morton, rolling along the flat prairie at Deer Creek and finally crossing the Mackinaw River just east of Goodfield. NS 6401, NS 6420 and NS 6968 have 58 cars, all loads. - David P. Jordan

I left work two hours early for an appointment, but had over an hour to kill, so with the knowledge that Norfolk Southern's D49 local was already on the east end of the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard around noon, I decided to check it out.    I arrived East Peoria on Interstate 74, got off on East Washington Street and made a left onto East Camp. But as I approached the North Main Street crossing, preparing to turn left, there it was.   The Norfolk Southern local was rolling through the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Farm Creek through truss/plate girder bridge, and I had to wait what seemed like an hour (actually five minutes) to make my turn. I decided it best to backtrack on the Interstate and wait for D49 at North Main Street near Morton.    My decision was a good one, as I could hear D49 attacking the hill minutes after my arrival. After it had passed, I decided to try again, managing to capture another runby at Dee-Mack Road, jus...

Sometime late-Monday or Tuesday morning, a Tazewell & Peoria Railroad switch crew pulled the eight Caterpillar tractor loads (and an empty flat car ahead of them) into one of the A Yard's short tracks. That only seven of the tractor loads moved on Wednesday's D49, offers a possible explanation: one was bad ordered. Today's train was short, and just like on January 29 and 30, I began my chase minutes after leaving work!  CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway train D49 rolls toward Deer Creek, Illinois mid-afternoon Wednesday, February 7, 2024. Later, it rolls through Carlock shortly before ending its run at Good Yard in Normal. NS 3362 and NS 7014 have 18 cars including SEVEN Caterpillar tractor loads.   I returned west and went into East Peoria to check on the Iowa Interstate crew with IAIS 711 reported to be grabbing Des Moines-bound Norfolk Southern high-hood GP38-2 5199 (which I saw on Norfolk Southern D49 January 29 - it came back following an inspection at Decatur)....

Norfolk Southern finally delivered the first of two F-7As to the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad late this morning! I took Thursday off from work just to catch D49 do this, but the crew spent its day switching Rivian, classifying D32 and building D36. On Friday, NS 7014 and BUGX 402 were involved in a minor derailment at Good Yard. Finally, they made the run on Monday. An added present was NS 5194, a high-hood GP38-2, bound for Des Moines, was hauled to TZPR with the F-7A! Today's TZPR delivery had typical traffic: steel coil loads for the Iowa Interstate but mostly empties for Liberty Steel & Wire, Caterpillar, Komatsu, Alto, BioUrja, Linde or Messer, and the KJRY.  The appearance of Incobrasa Industries covered hoppers is this month. It seems the time I saw one on D49 (August 7), it was empty. But they're empty coming into East Peoria as well. Apparently, my glance at the pressed truck coil springs on the August 7 train was insufficient to confirm it as a load, but that is...

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...

This afternoon and evening, I managed to catch three catch three local movements. I knew the Norfolk Southern train had already departed East Peoria, so I left work and immediately drove to Crandall. I glanced down Harding Road to see it had just passed. I was able to get ahead of it and shoot a runby with my phone at Deer Creek.  CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway train D49 rolls through Deer Creek, Illinois on its return leg to Good Yard in Normal, Illinois mid-afternoon Friday, May 5, 2023. NS 6975, NS 3328 and NS 7014 have just seven cars.   After successfully capturing the Norfolk Southern train, I went home, grabbed my laptop and a snack, and headed for Adams Street Yard. Scanner chatter, however, indicated the train was already getting its track warrants. So I went directly to W. Farmington Road and waited, but not for long. The train's short consist was due to lack of KJRY interchange thanks to Mississippi River flooding. TP&W interchange seems lacking as well, but...