Peoria Station

Tuesday, June 23, 2020, offered me an opportunity to watch Canadian National Railway local L557 (E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) switching two customers at Pekin, Illinois' Riverway Business Park. I found the train pausing along Route 29, which enabled me to wait off of N. 3rd Street in downtown Pekin for its passage. CN 5735 and KCS 5019 had departed the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard with 34 cars.  The train stopped at the siding near Derby Street to twelve cars - two lumber loads for Amerhart Ltd., a coil steel load for Hanna Steel Corp., and nine grain empties. Switching operations begin at the 7:11 mark. Final scene shows the now 43-car train at Fifth Street near South Pekin, where the nine grain empties will be setout. Back in April, Canadian National implemented a new schedule for its local trains here. Northbound L556 runs from Decatur to E. Peoria Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Southbound L557 runs Tuesday and Thursday. Friday's L556 ...

After work this afternoon, I immediately headed for Wesley Road to check on Canadian National’s Peoria Local.  I learned that an SD70, still in Illinois Central black, was second unit when the train made its northbound run out of Decatur late this morning and early afternoon. CN acquired the IC in 1999 and seeing locomotives wearing original IC black paint is becoming increasingly rare, so I had to check it out.  Sure enough, when I got there (about 4:10 p. m.), the CN crew called the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's St. Albans [Vermont] Dispatcher for permission to depart East Peoria. Once a TZPR Industry Job cleared, the CN local itself was cleared to depart East Peoria and run to IC Jct. in Pekin (where it returns to home rails). I waited a little while until CN 2253 & IC 1005 crept across Wesley Road with 21 cars, including two CB&I bent steel loads received from the IAIS. Video shot at Hilliards and downtown Pekin, both views on TZPR trackage. ...