Peoria Station

After spending time at the downtown library, I decided to take advantage of a heads up by driving to Lincoln.   Canadian National Railway pulled a loaded gluten feed pellet train out of Decatur in mid-afternoon, so I figured I could intercept it around Lincoln. Turns out, I only encountered it near Mt. Pulaski where it appeared to be crawling. I returned to Lincoln and waited for it, missing its passage in town. I had to drive north on old Route 121 passed the Bell elevator where I found a great country road crossing and harvested fields, enabling a decent view.  CAPTION: Canadian National Railway train G831 (Grain, Decatur IL to Peoria IL) rolls north of Bell, Illinois near Lincoln along old Rt. 121 late-afternoon Saturday, October 26, 2024. BNSF 4401 and BNSF 3896 had 100 gluten feed pellet loads for BNSF at Peoria. - David P. Jordan

I left work two hours early this afternoon so I could visit the Illinois State Library in Springfield. It seems to be the last one which possesses a copy of both the 1985 and 1987 Illinois Rail Plan Updates.  I left around 4:00 and followed CN's Gilman Sub to Mount Pulaski. I knew northbound local L556 often can be seen here in late-afternoon, so I decided it was worth a shot.  When I arrived town, there was no sign of the train having been there (a few cars for Gilman Sub customers were parked near the Rt. 54 overpass, but I figured I was early anyway.  I went to Casey's gas station for a little bit and then headed south of Rt. 121. The train appeared before I even reached Latham... CAPTION: A northbound Canadian National Railway train out of Decatur, Illinois rolls northbound near Mount Pulaski, Rt. 121 near Lincoln, Delavan and 5th Street near South Pekin late-afternoon Wednesday, April 24, 2024. CN 8009 and KCS 4185 have 100 gluten feed loads for BNSF via the Tazewel...

After a vain attempt to catch Canadian National L557 this afternoon, I decided to head to Lincoln and catch Amtrak 318 and Union Pacific MBNAS.  CAPTION: Amtrak No. 318, the Missouri River Runner/Lincoln Service (Kansas City MO to St. Louis MO and Chicago IL), rolls to a stop at Lincoln, Illinois late-afternoon Thursday, May 11, 2023. A few blocks north, the train is shown again leaving town. IDTX 4606 has seven cars. CAPTION: Union Pacific train MBNAS (Manifest, Bloomington IL to Alton & Southern) rolls by Amtrak's Lincoln, Illinois depot early evening Thursday, May 11, 2023. UP 4656 and UP 4985 have 43 cars. I usually get the MBNAS train at Bloomington or Shirley, but I like Amtrak's Lincoln depot as a location for filming in the mid- to late-afternoon. I'll probably do more of this.  After capturing these two movements, I received a heads up that an empty Union Pacific grain train with five motors was heading up the Illinois & Midland RR to Barr and South Pekin...

Just before leaving work this afternoon, social media provided a heads up that Canadian National's L557 local had permission to leave East Peoria with work to be done at Pekin and Emden. I figured I could intercept it at Pekin. Sure enough, that is where I found it. When I arrived, the crew had already pulled four empties from Hanna Steel. Due to backlighting, I elected not to capture them shoving several coil steel loads into the plant. I did, however, capture switching operations at Amerhart Ltd's facility. After that, I waited at 5th Street for the train's imminent departure.  After Delavan, I made a vain attempt to capture Union Pacific's MBNAS at Lincoln. I figured it would appear around 6:45 or 7:00, but there was no sign of it. Now I wish I'd stayed with the CN local at Emden.  Finally, I managed a final video as the train banged across the Union Pacific diamond at Lincoln.  CAPTION: Canadian National Railway train L557 (Local, E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) is...