Peoria Station

I went to the Decatur Train Fair today. Shortly after my arrival, I was able to capture Canadian National Railway's daily manifest leaving for Memphis, Tennessee. Even better, the consist include two or three cars (and maybe more) that came off L557 from East Peoria!    Car 23 - UTLX 63090 is an empty tank car, and last contained sodium hydroxide solution (UN 1824). It was pulled from PMP Fermentation Products in Peoria.    Car 24 - TZPR 321848 is a loaded gondola, containing scrap metal. It was pulled from Alter Metal Recycling, probably the Clarke Street facility (Alter also operates a yard for Liberty Steel & Wire).    Car 71 - CNA 415800 is an empty boxcar. I haven't seen boxcars at Amerhart Ltd's Pekin warehouse for awhile, so I'm thinking this car could have last contained zinc ingots. If so, it was pulled from Liberty Steel & Wire Co. at Bartonville. The zinc boxcars ten to be hi-cubes, however. (CN's Peoria and Gilman Subs, which co...

After work, I usually head to downtown library, but I did not make it on Friday afternoon because there were too many trains.    I just barely caught the Keokuk Junction Railway's local operating an East Peoria turn. I shot it the last place I could - the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Illinois River bridge.    CAPTION: The Keokuk Junction Railway's weekly East Peoria turn is shown in both directions on Friday afternoon, October 24, 2025. LTEX 6437, LTEX 3837 and LTEX 3836 have 17 cars for interchange with connections via the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad. LTEX 3836, LTEX 3837 and LTEX 6437 left East Peoria with 14 cars. Driving the Cedar Street Bridge into Peoria, I saw the Keokuk Junction Railway local entering the Bridge Junction wye at Sanger Street, but also a distant headlight that was clearly a BNSF train. My hopes were fulfilled when I reached Darst Street to find a short M-GALPEI ready to follow the Keokuk Junction Railway across the river.  ...

Given the length of today's Norfolk Southern local on its return leg to Normal, it is obvious it did not run on Monday. The train's 57 cars are an interesting study. 1 GAMX 25133/tank car/liquid feed 2 ADMX 636112/covered hopper/grain product 3 ADMX 636008/covered hopper/grain product 4 NS 170173/coil care car/ L/C coil steel (empty) 5 TILX 642137/covered hopper/grain product 6 ADMX 64252/covered hopper/grain product 7 CTCX 730860/tank car/denatured alcohol 8 TILX 20052/tank car/carbon dioxide refrigerated liquid 9 TILX 402459/tank car/carbon dioxide refrigerated liquid 10 TILX 402161/tank car/carbon dioxide refrigerated liquid 11 MWCX 481003/covered hopper/grain product 12 ADMX 635975/covered hopper/grain product 13 TILX 641597/covered hopper/grain product 14 ITFX 650041/covered hopper/grain product 15 TILX 194307/tank car/industrial alcohol 16 UTLX 209299/tank car/industrial alcohol 17 MBKX 190038/covered hopper/grain product 18 TILX 642177/covered hopper/grain product 19 MWC...

As usual, I saw something on my way to the downtown library this afternoon after work.    I'm glad I took I-474 instead of I-74 because I came across a three locomotive/two-car Keokuk Junction Railway local waiting at Iowa Junction for traffic to clear before heading on to East Peoria. First, BNSF's M-PEIGAL as just pulling onto home rails at S. Darst Street when I drove by. After catching it at W. Farmington Road a short time later, I returned to Peoria's southside to find an empty Union Pacific Decatur coal train pulling through Adams Street Yard.   The signal at W. Farmington Road was green for a northbound UP, but I don't believe it was the coal empties. A coal empty out of Crescent or a grain empty out of South Pekin are more likely. I ended up going to the downtown library, but should have stayed at W. Farmington Road as not only the Decatur train but also MPECL departed before evening.  CAPTION: BNSF Railway train M-PEIGAL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Ga...

After work this afternoon, I headed toward the downtown library as usual, but radio chatter lured me to my first of three encounters.   A Tazewell & Peoria Railroad Industry Job was at BioUrja Renewables' South Yard (crews and dispatchers still call it "ADM South Yard") asking permission to shove back out to Bridge Junction and then cross the river. A problem with a switch, signal, or some hardware was delaying this movement momentarily, which enabled me to get into position just in time.    Libery Steel & Wire Co's temporary (hopefully) suspension of operations most certainly has decreased business handled by the old "Kickapoo Job." Alter Metal Recycling has been sending processed scrap metal to new markets, though, in place of short-haul switch movements. Most of this seems to be moving via the Iowa Interstate to a consignee in the Chicago area.    The TZPR local train was probably switching one of the asphalt terminals (Interstate Asphalt Co...

CAPTION: Toledo, Peoria & Western road freight M-EFEP (Manifest, Effner IL to E. Peoria IL) is shown at locations at or near Weston, Chenoa, Gridley, El Paso, Eureka and Washington, Illinois Saturday afternoon, November 11, 2023. The entire train is shown at each. TPW 2070, IORY 5007, TPW 5010, and IORY 5014 have 121 cars from on-line industries and CSX and CN interchanges.   A nice sunny late-morning and early-afternoon in November is a good time to get a westbound TP&W freight!  A lot of typical TP&W freight business is represented on today's train. - The first 15 cars are loaded with limestone shipped from The Rogers Group/Newton County Stone in Perkins, Indiana and consigned to East Peoria Materials, located on the east end of the TP&W yard (and to celebrate 20 years in January 2024!). - Fourteen TPW-marked cyclindrical covered hoppers might have been pulled from the Ludlow Co-Operative Elevator Company at La Hogue. (Crescent City is possible, but newer, 2...

I received a heads up early Sunday afternoon that a southbound Iowa Interstate freight had passed Mossville. So I headed into Peoria and encountered it near the Komatsu plant. I backtracked to the RiverPlex parking lot downtown and waited a few minutes before the train showed up. PMP Fermentation Products sure makes a good backdrop!   T oday's train was short. The GEVOs were split up with 518 coupled to an empty potash train (PEDAV) at Wesley. The 506 took PESI out of town, probably after dark.  CAPTION: Iowa Interstate manifest SIPE (Silvis IL to Peoria IL) rolls by PMP Fermentation Products in downtown Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Sunday, October 22, 2023. Later, it is at South Street just before crossing the river. Both scenes are on Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Uptown Division. IAIS 518 and IAIS 506 have 26 cars.   Earlier, I noticed a TP&W crew putting together a rather lengthy manifest in the East Peoria Yard. I figured an extra switch crew was on duty an...

I was waiting off Krause Ave. on Peoria's south side for Union Pacific's MPECL to radio the dispatcher for instructions when I heard a distant horn. I went trackside to check and saw IMRR 43 approaching with what turned out to be 28 cars for Kickapoo Yard. CAPTION: A Tazewell & Peoria Railroad switch job rolls by Krause Ave. in Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Tuesday, August 15, 2023. IMRR 43 has 28 cars for Kickapoo Yard. Save for the asphalt load on the rear, all are either scrap metal loads and wire rod empties are for Liberty Steel & Wire Co.   Not long afterward, MPECL radio'ed the dispatcher and got permission to head north from Peoria Junction. I shot the train off W. Farmington Road, but decided to get it again, so I got ahead of it and parked at a stub road just south of Speer.  CAPTION: Union Pacific MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road shortly after leaving Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Tuesday, August 15, 2023. Later,...

A good surprise for a Saturday! The train stopped short of the US 24 bypass bridge at Cruger for an unknown reason, which allowed me to see steel billets in three gondolas near the end. These were loaded by Liberty Steel & Wire Co.'s Bartonville steelworks and consigned to its Georgetown, South Carolina rod mill. The City Council down there threatened to change zoning away from heavy industrial if the plant did not reopen by February 1, 2022! Nine boxcars of salt consigned to Sweetener Supply Corp. at Wolcott, Indiana, 20 Incobrasa Industries covered hoppers (which looked loaded) and even some zinc oxide empties provide an interesting variety on today's train.  CAPTION: Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway train M-EPEF (Manifest, E. Peoria IL to Effner IL) rolls under the US 24 bypass near Cruger, Illinois at midday Saturday, June 10, 2023. TPW 3443, TPW 1539 and TPW 3440 have 62 cars. Note in the first scene that gondolas near the end (54th to 56th cars) are loaded with s...

I saw a report late this morning that BNSF's M-GALPEI had left Galesburg with BNSF 5488 and NS 9775 on the point, hoping it would take just enough time to deliver to TZPR in East Peoria, couple to (and build?) M-PEIGAL and be running as I drove over the SW. Adams Street Viaduct at 3:30 this afternoon.  (It has happened like that before, why not again?) Anyway, I didn't get my wish, but did come across a TP&W local on the Union Pacific's ex-PTCo line, stopped short of Iowa Junction. The crew radio'd the TZPR dispatcher and moved as soon as the conductor lined the switch. A BNSF coal train would follow it across the river. After that, the TZPR job would get its chance.  Actually, I was lured there by radio chatter mentioning TZPR 1351 switching at Illinois Street. I was too late for that, but did notice a BNSF boxcar spotted inside the south end of Liberty Steel & Wire Co's Wire Mill. Incidentally, as the TP&W local (EP1) prepared to enter TZPR trackage, 1...

After church Sunday, I noticed a Tazewell & Peoria Railroad switch job poised to leave Kickapoo Yard on Peoria's far south side. Video shows it at Krause Avnue enroute to East Peoria. Radio chatter indicates this was "Lead 2." HESR 2107 has 13 loads, twelve with coiled wire rod. The last might contain steel billets, possibly for Liberty Steel & Wire's recently re-opened Georgetown, SC plant.   - David P. Jordan

This is a case of being in the right place at the right minute... A Tazewell & Peoria Railroad Industry Job pulled a string of gondolas from Liberty Steel & Wire Co's Bartonville steel mill late this morning just minutes after I drove by. TZPR 1521 had 20 cars (four loads, 16 empties). - David P. Jordan

I checked this morning on my way to church, and what do I see hanging out onto TP&W's Peoria Sub TPW 5010 and TPW 3442, running long hood forward, have 50 cars. Breakdown was 25 corn for ADM South Yard in Peoria and 25 manifest for TZPR). As for the latter, it was mostly nitrogen fertilizer solution and alcohol empties but with one soybean meal load. On my way home, I did some exploring and found a Tazewell & Peoria Railroad running from Kickapoo Yard to East Peoria. It is shown at S. Darst Street. TZPR 1521 has 23 cars. Breakdown is 12 scrap metal or steel ingot empties, eight wire rod loads and three DDGS/mash loads. Cars 6, 9 and 10 had Ferromex lettering (FXE), and are reported to have arrived East Peoria via BNSF loaded with steel ingots. I guess Liberty Steel & Wire found a good deal in Mexico? - David P. Jordan