Peoria Station

I took today off, and contemplated how to spend it. As events unfolded Thursday, I decided to stay in the area...well almost. First, I checked Good Yard in Normal for any sign of Norfolk Southern local D49. Lately, it seems this train is spending more days of the week pulling loads and spotting empties at Rivian Automotive Inc's adjacent ramp. This means that the East Peoria run is put off until later. But not today. When I arrived, I found D36 made up and parked on the Rivian ramp "balloon" track. No power was in sight. Then, my scanner picked up radio chatter. Moments later, I saw inbound train D32 stopped across College Avenue with NS 3228 and NS 3410 and about 15 cars. I quckly assumed that D49's crew had to pull it in, as D32 usually arrives well before sunrise. Activity died off as soon as the train pulled into and stopped in the yard, so I headed back to Peoria.  As I exited I-74 onto East Washington Street, I caught the tail end of a train which looked suspici...

Today's Norfolk Southern local D36 out of Bloomington/Normal had mostly D49 traffic. Seven soybean meal empties on the head end will be set out for DuPont at Gibson City. The CRDX car was an organic corn load pulled from The Andersons facility at Mansfield. Notable traffic from Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard includes corn syrup. gluten meal and scrap metal from the Keokuk Junction Railway, plastic pellets and granulated slag from the Illinois & Midland Railroad, a Komatsu truck chassis, alcohol from BioUrja and/or Alto Pekin LLC or Alto ICP, and carbon dioxide refrigerated liquid from Messer's Pekin facility. Nine loaded autoracks on the rear contained Rivian vehicles assembled at the Normal plant. Such shipments appear to be frequent these days, thanks to significantly higher production levels this year. Present volume isn't what Mitsubishi generated but Rivian expects expects to build 50,000 vehicles in 2023 (double 2022 levels). In 2024 it inte...

The downtown library was closed today, so I decided to try to catch Norfolk Southern Train D36 out of Good Yard with Rivian EV loads...and I did! Shipments have been increasingly common this summer. The journey has taken several years. Rivian Automotive purchased the Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America (MMMA) plant in early 2017. After extensive upgrades, brick-and-mortar expansion and new tooling, the plant began limited production of vehicles a year ago this month.  Norfolk Southern began hauling empty autoracks to Good Yard in spring 2021 in hopes that production would begin then. Delays caused by lack of critical components delayed large-scale production until recent months. The Normal plant is said to be able to produce 150,000 EVs per year, but will be lucky to do 25,000 in 2022.  With many of the supply chain issues eased, Rivian has decided to added a second assembly shift. Rivian builds larger vehicles than MMMA, so more autoracks will be needed even at less tha...

Dodge Ram trucks have been arriving Normal, Illinois by rail in recent days.  Sunday morning, I shot Norfolk Southern Train D32 bringing 42 autoracks into Good Yard Sunday. Sources say these were loaded with Dodge Ram pickups for unloading at the adjacent Rivian Automotive facility. The trucks will have some work done before sale. More came in on Monday. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) assembles newer models of these trucks at Sterling Heights, Michigan. Served by Conrail Shared Assets Organization (CSAO), a joint CSX-Norfolk Southern property, this plant might be the origin for trucks arriving Normal this week. Of course, "classic" Rams are assembled at Warren, Michigan and Saltillo, Mexico. Anyway, good for Norfolk Southern to grab this [albeit temporary] business.  - David P. Jordan