Peoria Station

The TP&W ran an eastbound "M-Train" for the second late-afternoon/evening in a row today.    I don't know if it was some kind of extra movement to handle "hot" cars, but most were loads - five nitrogen fertilizer solution loads and at least one bag dust load from BNSF (via TZPR); two denatured alcohol, two beverage alcohol and one industrial alcohol load from TZPR and two salt boxcars and five phosphoric acid tank cars from Union Pacific.  CAPTION: An eastbound Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway M-Train, sometimes known as M-EPEF (Manifest, E. Peoria IL to Effner IL), rolls through El Paso, Illinois early evening Monday, August 24, 2026. This was the second such train two days in a row. IORY 5007, TPW 5015 and TPW 5009 have 26 cars. - David P. Jordan

I had finished mowing my yard Sunday afternoon when I was given a heads up that a TP&W freight had departed East Peoria for the east. I figured I could intercept it and catch it at Cruger. Sure enough, the train's glacial speed through Washington and to Cruger proved me correct. I ended up chasing it and getting a second video at El Paso. The first 49 cars were soybean loads for Incobrasa Industries' Gilman plant.  CAPTION: An eastbound Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway manifest, sometimes known as M-EPEF (Manifest, E. Peoria IL to Effner IL), rolls by Grainland Farmers' Cruger elevator late-afternoon Sunday, August 23, 2026. Later, it rolls through El Paso at reduced speed. TPW 3386, TPW 5010, TPW 5008 and IORY 5014 have 78 cars. - David P. Jordan

I worked until 5:00pm on Friday, but learned that a TP&W "M-Train" had left East Peoria maybe 30 minutes prior. So instead of going home first, I took off east and found the train between Eureka and Secor, able to beat it to the latter, though not by much (the slow order from earlier this year has been fixed). I got it again in El Paso.    I'm glad I had my camera in the car.    The two units on Friday's train are the newest power seen on the TP&W. Until earlier this year, the OHCR 3329 had been sitting at the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Creve Coeur diesel shop since 2024. BERX 6908 arrived in mid-May, and was quickly pressed into service. BERX is the reporting mark for Genesee & Wyoming Inc's Berkshire & Eastern Railroad, which is the neutral operator of the Pan Am Southern, a company jointly owned by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway. Apparently, C40-8Ws make the BERX 6908, and SD40-2s, superfluous.    Friday's ea...

After work, I caught this TP&W-CN grain extra rolling east through Secor, so I set up at El Paso and again at Gridley.  I had my camera set to "Auto," which unfortunately suffers from an object at the 1080 setting. I usually shoot 4k, so I switched it for the runby at Gridley.    TP&W-served elevators at Cruger (Grainland Farmers) and Chenoa (Prairie Central Cooperative) have loaded unit trains for BNSF, Canadian National, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific, all with run-through power. With this TP&W-CN train, I've now caught all five.  CAPTION: A Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway crew assembled a grain at Grainland Farmers' Cruger, Illinois elevator mid-afternoon Monday, April 6, 2026 and departed east for Gilman, Illinois where the train will be handed off to Canadian National Railway. Video locations are El Paso and Gridley. CN 2665 and CN 3978 have 113 cars.   - David P. Jordan

A number of TP&W manifests of late have had short consists when departing East Peoria. Days of operations still seem to vary, but short consists either mean more frequent runs or a lull in business. That lull, if a factor, is probably seasonal.    I learned of the train's departure from East Peoria around midday Saturday. It was a short consist, and eleven of the cars and one locomotive (IORY 3492) were on that transfer I caught Friday afternoon. But I decided to chase starting at Washington. After that, I cured an empty stomach and caught up to the train again at Secor. I usually bid adieu at El Paso, but knew pickups were planned at both Gridley and Meadows. These may be the first times I've seen TP&W pickup eastbound soybean loads at these local elevators that are consigned to Incobrasa Industries in Gilman.    I included video of the Gridley pickup. I stayed at Chenoa to watch a southbound Union Pacific intermodal train and Amtrak's San Antonio-bound ...

I took a half-day from work Friday hoping to catch Union Pacific's MPECL. Unfortunately, Adams Street Yard was empty when I drove by around 1140. I turnaround and checked the signal at W. Farmington Road. Yellow indication. I backtracked, thinking maybe the train was stopped at Peoria Junction and had yet to receive track warrants. No sign of it. I did see what I thought at first was BNSF's M-PEIGAL waiting for instructions to go west.    Turns out, MPECL was hiding from me. Or perhaps LPD01 was still at East Peoria, and when it crossed the river and returned to home rails, the train became MPECL as a new crew got onboard and departed around 1330. Unfortunately, I was an hour east. Also, the BNSF train was M-GALPEI that was for some unknown reason holding well short of Darst Street.    I salvaged my day with the knowledge of a westbound TP&W freight. Now that Ruff Brothers also uses the elevator on Gridley's east side, 15 cars total can be spotted for loading...

The absence of Incobrasa covered hoppers is odd. These days, orange power and green rolling stock seem inseparable.  CAPTION: An eastbound Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway "M-Train" (sometimes called M-EPEF) crawls as it approaches Cruger, Illinois early-afternoon Saturday, January 31, 2026. Later, the train crawls through Secor (after a fast run through Eureka) and then pulls through El Paso. IORY 3492, TPW 5008 and HESR 2107 have 58 cars.   - David P. Jordan

The five empty Incobrasa covered hoppers, six salt-laden boxcars and nine loaded nitrogen tank cars were on Wednesday's late-afternoon transfer from the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad.   Kind of sad that these cars sat for nearly four days, but the Incobrasa cars were empties and Sweetener Supply Corp. at Wolcott, Indiana already had six arrive this week, and probably didn't have room yet. The nitrogen loads might not be "hot" either.  CAPTION: An eastbound Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway "M-Train," sometimes called M-EPEF (Manifest, E. Peoria IL to Effner IL) rolls by Cruger, Secor and El Paso midday Sunday, January 11, 2026. TPW 5008, IORY 3492 and RCPE 3481 have 40 cars.   - David P. Jordan

I learned Monday that Union Pacific's MPECL would be unusually lengthy, owing to block of 31 plastic pellet covered hoppers on the rear. I would also note eight scrap metal loads mid-train. Liberty Steel & Wire seems to suspend operations for maintenance at least two weeks prior to Thanksgiving, so that may account for the latter.    I took a half day from work Tuesday and found the train ready to depart around 1130.  CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by Milepost 80 shortly after entering the Peoria Subdivision mainline mid-day Tuesday, November 25, 2025. Later, the train crests Pioneer Hill. UP 5863 and UP 8135 have 79 cars.   After returning home, I learned that a westbound TP&W road freight was by Piper City shortly after 1300 hours, so I took off, tracing the TP&W along US 24 until I encountered the train at Gridley. Notables include 14 limestone loads for East Peoria Materials, five gondolas loaded wi...

It is always good to catch a long TP&W freight on the East End mainline.    Minutes after a notice on a local Facebook group that a TP&W eastbound freight was approaching Washington, I left the house and drove to Cruger. Watching its passage, I noticed that the two locomotives on Saturday evening's transfer to the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad - TPW 5009 and IORY 5007 - were on this train. I did not stick around for it due to darkness, but I assumed they would return with eastbound traffic.    Today's train has a decent variety of rolling stock -    1 tank car (soybean oil empty) 9 tank cars (nitrogen fertilizer solution loads) 1 tank car (denatured alcohol load) 2 tank car (industrial alcohol loads) 12 covered hoppers (phosphate empties) 2 tank cars (sorbitol loads) 1 tank car (corn syrup empty) 1 tank car (methylamine anhydrous empty) 1 tank car (dimethylamine anhydrous empty) 5 covered hoppers (phosphate empties) 25 covered hoppe...

I caught another TP&W westbound freight on Sunday!   Athough short, the train had an ecclectic mix of power and rolling stock...and probably new business. The two GBRX gondolas on the head end were laden with the same gray, granular commodity as the BNSF steel hopper mid-train. I can only deduct that these were from the Waelz Sustainable Products plant in Clymers, Indiana.   Since 2022, zinc oxide has been moving from WSP in RISX covered hoppers to Union Pacific at Peoria (via TZPR for awhile now). Iron oxide, another by-product of recycling EAF bag dust from steel mills, has some uses as pigments for paints, coatings and inks, as well as in iron and steel production. It can also be used by the concrete industry.    Note also that there were four RISX covered hoppers on today's train. While most of these zinc oxide loads go to UP, some of have been recently seen as routed TPW-TZPR-IMRR-Springfield-CPKC.    The DOWX tank car, containing a non-haz...

This is a typical occurence on Sundays. I neither get it every Sunday nor do I get a heads up every Sunday either, so I can't be sure it happens every Sunday, but it seems to do so.    The short consist is odd, but the nitrogen fertilizer solution shipping season must be slacking off, and interchange with CSX must have light, save for the usual Incobrasa traffic (which would not go west of Gilman). The 13 Incobrasa empties on today's train might be for the KJRY. Four nitrogen empties and one empty salt boxcar are for BNSF at Peoria.  CAPTION: Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway train M-EFEP (Manifest, Effner IL to E. Peoria IL) is shown Sunday afternoon, March 30, 2025. Locations are El Paso, just west of Secor (and again alongside US 24), Eureka, Cruger, Washington (and again at Ernest Street) and East Peoria. CFE 3316 and MQT 3407 have a short 18 cars (all empties). - David P. Jordan

After seeing SIPE Saturday afternoon, I figured would run PESI this morning, so I managed to catch it once before the Peoria Train Fair. Looks like 35 DDGS and/or gluten feed pellet empties, and five scrap metal loads.    CAPTION: Iowa Interstate Railroad manifest PESI (Peoria IL to Silvis IL) rolls by the E. Linnet Street crossing off Rt. 29 in Peoria Heights, Illinois late-morning Sunday, February 16, 2025. IAIS 712 and IAIS 151 have 40 cars.  A TP&W westbound was seen near Piper City late this morning, so after an hour or so at the Peoria Train Fair, I decided to head east to intercept. I found it just west of El Paso and shot video in five locations between there and Ernest Street.   Today's train has a decent mix, including 12 limestone loads on the head end. A 15-car block of corn could have been pulled from La Hogue. I noticed a few nitrogen fertilizer solution empties. This traffic, with loads originating at Wever, Iowa, may have been reduced afte...

My motto is still intact - If you get a chance to see a TP&W manifest, take it!   I learned that a westbound was by Chatsworth at 12:44 this afternoon, so I decided to head east and intercept. As soon as I turned left onto a north-south road on Gridley's west edge, the flashers activated and the gates lowered. Today's train was unusually short - 15 corn loads for Peoria or Pekin processors, and a plastic empty. Perhaps they needed the power here for the next eastbound? CAPTION:   Toledo, Peoria & Western train M-EFEP (Manifest, Effner IL to E. Peoria IL) rolls through and near several towns Sunday afternoon, December 15, 2024. Locations at west of Gridley, at El Paso, Secor, west of Secor, Cruger, Washington and Ernest Street, just southwest of Washington. TPW 5010, TPW 5008 and TPW 3441 have 16 cars.    - David P. Jordan

Another day, another monster Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway road freight!  A summary of the train's monster consist shows the variety of traffic moving westbound on the TP&W these days -  eleven covered hoppers CORN eight hoppers LIMESTONE two covered hoppers ORGANIC GRAIN two covered hoppers LOADS ???? four gondolas L/C wire rod one cenerbeam flat LUMBER two covered hoppers DDGS two covered hoppers ZINC OXIDE two tank cars L/C nitrogen eight tank cars HOME SHOP five covered hoppers L/C soybeans two covered hoppers SOYBEAN MEAL? two covered hoppers ZINC OXIDE nine covered hoppers DDGS? 54 covered hoppers L/C soybeans three covered hoppers ZINC OXIDE one tank car L/C amines (UN 2735) two covered hoppers L/C grain or dry fertilizer 13 tank cars L/C nitrogen (last one HOME SHOP) CAPTION: Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway train M-EFEP (Manifest, Effner IL to E. Peoria IL) is shown early- to mid-afternoon Saturday, March 16, 2024 at Fairbury, Chenoa, Gridley, El Paso,...

When I learned that TP&W was running an eastbound freight this afternoon and that it had stopped to switch Grainland Cooperative at Cruger, I decided to forego Union Pacific's MPECL. To quote myself from March 20, 2023, "If you can catch a TP&W road freight, do it!" Yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of Santa Fe's absorption of the original TP&W. The next five years marked declining traffic, and Santa Fe sold it to Gordon Fuller's TP&W Acquisition Corp. on February 3, 1989. Fuller and subsequent owners experienced ups and downs on traffic, some of the downs being self-inflicted and some out of their control. Fortunately, Genesee & Wyoming Inc.-owned TP&W has experienced traffic surges from on-line industrial development the last several years. Many of the cars on today's eastbound are the result of that development.  Note that there are ELEVEN salt boxcars on the head end consigned to Sweetener Supply Corp, which opened near Wolcott,...