Peoria Station

I'm not sure the last time Norfolk Southern D49 ran before today, but it must have been awhile. Monday's return trip had 89 cars! Besides five Caterpillar D10 tractor loads, the train had seven plastic loads from the Illinois & Midland, 24 ADM grain product loads from Iowa Interstate, 10 corn syrup tanks from the Keokuk Junction Railway and possibly some other interchange business.    I came home from work unaware if the train had left, then received a tip, and headed out. I decided to try to capture the train rolling across the Mackinaw River east of Goodfield. Turns out, I should have just waited for it at Goodfield, and then gone on to Carlock. But I missed it at Yuton as I did not want to risk construction delays on I-74 east of Carlock. Fortunately, the D36 crew had already arrived and took the train on east after adding 43 more cars.   Recent reports have D32 (Decatur to Normal) running Sunday during the day (a wide window) and Monday through Friday during ...

I had a heads up that Canadian National's L557 local was about to, or already had. left East Peoria, and decided to take Rt. 98 and then a left on Rt. 29. This was a good decision because the train had entered Pekin just ahead of me.  CAPTION: Canadian National Railway train L557 (Local, E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) rolls enters home rails at IC Junction in downtown Pekin, Illinois late-afternoon Thursday, April 16, 2026. Steel coil and lumber loads, for Hanna Steel and Amerhart, respectively were "turned" at the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard rather than being set out at Pekin (perhaps L556's crew was short on time?). CN 3192 has 37 cars.   I normally don't post UP Joliet/Springfield Sub action here, but something stood out with a possible local connection.    There were nine RISX covered hoppers on today's MBNAS (in groups of six and three). All empties. Those markings are familiar to me because similar RISX-marked cars are assig...

The downtown library was closed today, so I decided to try to catch Norfolk Southern Train D36 out of Good Yard with Rivian EV loads...and I did! Shipments have been increasingly common this summer. The journey has taken several years. Rivian Automotive purchased the Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America (MMMA) plant in early 2017. After extensive upgrades, brick-and-mortar expansion and new tooling, the plant began limited production of vehicles a year ago this month.  Norfolk Southern began hauling empty autoracks to Good Yard in spring 2021 in hopes that production would begin then. Delays caused by lack of critical components delayed large-scale production until recent months. The Normal plant is said to be able to produce 150,000 EVs per year, but will be lucky to do 25,000 in 2022.  With many of the supply chain issues eased, Rivian has decided to added a second assembly shift. Rivian builds larger vehicles than MMMA, so more autoracks will be needed even at less tha...