Peoria Station

  Late this morning, Canadian National Railway local L557 left Wesley with 58 cars. Besides the unusually long train, lone IC 1034 was on the point! More than 20 years after CN absorbed the Illinois Central Railroad (October 1, 2000), that carrier's units remain operational in their original paint! Video shows it crawling along the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad double track as it approaches Pekin, Illinois and snakes through the downtown area. The train then races across 5th Street near South Pekin (where it picked up 25 grain empties). The final scene showns the now 83-car train is at Worner Road near Green Valley. The block of 26 empty plastics covered hoppers was a little unusual. A sprinkling of eight empty gondolas tells me CN is still handling scrap metal to TZPR for delivery to Liberty Steel & Wire Co. - David P. Jordan

I caught Canadian National local L556 (Decatur IL to E. Peoria IL) rolling by Wesley Road in Hilliards (Creve Coeur), Illinois on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's double track Pekin mainline early Thursday afternoon. IC 1007 and CN 8895 have seven cars. It was good to see IC 1007, still in Illinois Central RR black. That carrier was acquired by Canadian National Railway in 1999 and absorbed through merger in 2000. Although the IC still exists as a legal entity, its parent has supplanted its own branding in the last two decades.  Memorial Day changed the locals' routine this week. Normally, L556 runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday and L557 runs Tuesday and Thursday. Friday's L556 makes a roundtrip from Decatur to East Peoria and return. While L556 ran Monday, counterpart L557 did not operate until Wednesday. That moved L556's next run to today. Train apparently returned south engine lite. Call times can vary.  Today's train was short. Five empty ...