Peoria Station

Past experience told me I had time, but I didn't.   I caught the tail end of an empty northbound Union Pacific grain extra as I drove under Harmon Highway (Rt. 116) Kickapoo Creek Road early this afternoon. I ended up going into town, getting onto westbound I-74 and noticing the train still on the double track either stopped or stalled. So I made my way to Alta Road and then Radnor, only to see it rolling north of Pioneer. I turned around and got to the Alta Road crossing just in time. Wrong side of the tracks, but with the high sun, it probably didn't matter much.  CAPTION: An empty northbound Union Pacific grain extra races across Alta Road on Peoria, Illinois' northwest side early afternoon Sunday, August 17, 2025. UP 5724, UP 6303 and UP 6825 lead 112 Sterling-bound cars. - David P. Jordan

The last time I witnessed a loaded, northbound grain extra on the Union Pacific's Peoria Subdivision was on October 3, 2021. Loaded at BNSF-served ADM Grain Co. in St. Louis, five locomotives were required to get 102 corn loads up Pioneer Hill. It actually stalled with four the day before and the crew parked it just south of W. Farmington Road. When a fifth unit was added (probably ran engine lite from Clinton), they made another go of it.   The reason for northbound grain loads? A derecho had severely damaged Iowa's corn (and soybean) crop in July 2020, so processors had to import grain to make up for the shortage. A 42-car cut of corn was loaded at Encompass Grain & Rail's Allen Station terminal on November 6, 2020 and added to an MPECL (possibly that afternoon's train). It was a rare move for the LPD01 local as well.    It is possible then that Encompass loaded this 115-car train I saw this evening, but why it was routed north is unclear.  CAPTION: A rar...