Peoria Station

Early Sunday afternoon, I learned that the TP&W was handling a grain extra out of Chenoa for Union Pacific at Peoria. This was the second train in as many days, one had been pulled from Grainland Farmers' Cruger elevator on Saturday. I did not see it, but understand it was also delivered to Union Pacific at Adams Street Yard. Apparently, the two carriers have decided to shift their interchange point for grain trains from Crescent/Powerton near Pekin or the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's double track mainline to Adams Street Yard/Low Line in Peoria. Saturday's Cruger train is reportedly bound for Mexico via Eagle Pass, Texas, and Sunday's Chenoa train is probably going to Mexico as well.  CAPTION: The Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway ran this grain extra from Prairie Central Coop's Greenfield (Chenoa), Illinois rail loop Sunday afternoon, October 4, 2026. UP 5731, UP 8785 and UP 5640 were on the point of 115 loads. Train is shown at Cruger, Washington, Ea...

I caught this empty grain train slowing toward Christmas Tree Road at South Pekin, but which I had been able to capture it first just south of Allen Station at mainline speed. Oh well, I still got it on the lesser-used section of Union Pacific's Peoria Subdivision.  If I heard correctly on the symbol, I'd love to know what "HH" is. Must be in Iowa, or perhaps in Minnesota. The Dupo origin suggests a repositioning move.  CAPTION: A northbound Union Pacific train of grain empties, GSDUHH (Grain Shuttle, Dupo IL to Hope MN), slows toward a stop short of Christmas Tree Road at South Pekin, Illinois late-afternoon Saturday, August 8, 2026. Later, the train rolls along the mainline toward a crew at what is left of the Chicago & North Western Railway's South Pekin Yard. After the new crew is aboard and the dispatcher gave them track warrants to Nelson, the train rolls by Chester L Road. A little more than an hour later, shortly after 1900 hours, the train rolls by ...

For an unconfirmed reason, Union Pacific re-routed train MDMNL via the Peoria Subdivision today.    This train normally runs via via Kansas City. Lots of products of ethanol plants, wet corn mills and soybean processors in north Central Iowa and the Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern (RCPE) at Mankato, Minnesota. Cargill's plant at Fort Dodge, Iowa seems to be represented. Traffic from South Dakota Soybean Processors (probably the Volga, SD plant) and bentonite from Belle Fourche, SD on the RCPE are notable. The coil steel car (75th car) was loaded, though it is unclear where it orginated. There were four empty plastic pellet cars as well.  CAPTION: Union Pacific train MDMNL (Manifest, Des Moines IA to N. Little Rock AR) rolls from a crew change at Chester L Road just north of South Pekin Yard on the Peoria Subdivision late-afternoon Tuesday, July 14, 2026. The train paused for a northbound empty grain train to get clear on South Pekin Siding and then departed. UP 8720-...

Canadian National's Peoria Sub was busy today. An empty grain train was delivered to Iowa Interstate, local L557 worked south as usual on Thursday, and a weed sprayer train ran north, entered the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad at IC Junction in Pekin, turned at Wesley and headed back south to home rails this afternoon.  CAPTION: A Canadian National weed spray train is shown mid- to late-afternoon Thursday, April 23, 2026 rolling along the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad at Hilliards (Creve Coeur), Illinois. Later, it is shown on home rails at IC Junction in downtown Pekin, at 5th Street near South Pekin, and again at the intersection with Main Street in South Pekin. CN 5289, an SD40-2W, has six cars.   - David P. Jordan

This afternoon, I was able to capture this IAIS-CN grain extra on the CN side. The train rolled right through downtown Pekin at or near posted speed limit (10mph). That was in contrast to my first encounter with the train on February 15 when the conductor de-trained and walked it across 3rd Street at no more than 2-3mph!    I don't know how long several Iowa Interstate-served elevators - reportedly Landus Coop at Atlantic and Adair and Heartland Coop at Dexter, Kellogg and Malcolm - will continue these trains but this is great for variety of activity on two lines which serve Peoria.  CAPTION: Canadian National Railway grain extra G888 (E. Peoria IL to Helvetia LA) is shown in various stages and at various locations on Saturday afternoon, April 11, 2026. The crew ran engine lite from the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Creve Coeur Team Track down Main No. 1 then crossed over to No. 2 to attach to the train at Hilliards. After departing an hour later, power runbys are...

After crossing the river on Interstate 474, I heard the Canadian National local crew get a warrant from IC Junction south (probably to Mount Pulaski). I figured the train had just departed East Peoria, so I turned around. It was passing Hilliards when I got back across the river. Train had a scrap metal load, alcohol loads and some ADM grain product loads from the Iowa Interstate.  CAPTION: Canadian National Railway train L557 (Local, E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) rolls along the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad as it enters Pekin, Illinois late-afternoon Tuesday, April 7, 2026. CN 3192 left East Peoria with 30 cars, and added three empties from Hanna Steel. Other scenes are at IC Junction in Pekin and at Hanna Drive. Final scene is at Fifth Street near South Pekin.   - David P. Jordan

When I found it, CN's L557 was stopped after finishing working at Hanna Steel, so it is possible the hi-cube CN boxcar up front was pulled from Amerhart. But it might be a zinc ingot empty car from Liberty Steel & Wire Co.  CAPTION: Canadian National Railway train L557 (Local, E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) rolls across Fifth Street near South Pekin, Illinois mid-afternoon Tuesday, January 13, 2026. CN 3192 has four cars.   On my way from South Pekin to the downtown Peoria library, I encountered this Tazewell & Peoria Railroad industry Job.  CAPTION: A Tazewell & Peoria Railroad "Industry Job" rolls by Darst Street and Krause Avenue in Peoria, Illinois enroute from Kickapoo Yard to the East Peoria Yard late-afternoon Tuesday, January 13, 2026. HESR 2107 has six cars.   - David P. Jordan

Thanks to social media, I was able to intercept Canadian National's L557 local this afternoon.    Before I left work, I knew the crew had run their locomotives into the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard. If I wanted to see it, I needed to get to Pekin fast. So I took Rt. 98 out of Morton, then cut through Groveland to Sheridan Road, took a left onto Veterans Road and made my way through Pekin's south side to find L557 just entering home rails at IC Junction. I simply turned left onto Washington Street, rolled down my window and started shooting.    It appears that when the 45-car train left East Peoria this afternoon, only the two loaded alcohol tank cars were from local industry; the other 43 cars were ADM traffic - probably from the Iowa Interstate - including five loaded corn syrup tank cars! CAPTION: Canadian National Railway train L557 (Local, E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) is shown at Washington Street in Pekin, Illinois mid-afternoon Thursd...

After work, I made my usual trip to the downtown library, with appropriate detours.   After exiting I-74 in East Peoria, I noticed what I thought might be a Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway train preparing to shove a few tank cars out of the west end of the yard and run Norfolk Southern's Bloomington District to Crandall Junction and then into Morton. Turns out, it was probably just a short train returning from Collier Yard in Bartonville.   Shortly, I heard the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad dispatcher give BNSF's M-GALPEI permission to enter his property at Darst Street when river traffic cleared and the bridge was lowered. That gave me time to get to Krause Avenue in time to capture the train's passage.  CAPTION: BNSF Railway train M-GALPEI (Manifest, Galesburg IL to Peoria IL) has just entered Tazewell & Peoria Railroad property at Darst Street in Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Monday, September 22, 2025. BNSF 7167 and BNSF 6748 have 30 cars for the Eas...

I checked the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard enroute to the downtown library this afternoon, and came across this train already talking to the dispatcher for instructions.    I never made it to the library.   A section of Wesley Road is closed on either side of the crossing at Wesley East, so the first spot for video was Hilliards. Although a short train with nothing spectacular for power or consist (the usual gluten feed/meal/DDGS/alcohol from Alto Pekin plants), I decided to shoot another scene in downtown Pekin and then check if any local switching needed to be done at Amerhart Ltd. or Hanna Steel Corp.    Turns out, L557 stopped across Hanna Drive to pull three coil steel empties from Hanna Steel. I waited at 5th Street near South Pekin for a third scene.  CAPTION: Canadian National Railway train L557 (Local, E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) is shown  at Hilliards (Creve Coeur), Illinois  rolling along the Tazewell &...

After work this afternoon, I noticed CN's local power on the Creve Coeur Team Track with no sign of a crew on duty. When I checked again about two hours later, the units were gone. I soon realized the train had departed and was already on home rails in Pekin. I arrived to find they had just pulled an empty centerbeam flat car from Amerhart Ltd. and shoved it into the other 27 cars. The conductor was still on the ground, but it looked they were getting close to moving again.    I decided to wait at 5th Street near South Pekin, but forgot to change my camera setting from auto to 4k. I got video but only 1080p, and that annoying speck that appeared in my lens about a month ago. I've been using the 4k setting, which is zoomed in slightly, eliminating the speck.    So I decided to chase L557 a little further. I did not intend to go all the way to Mount Pulaski, but finding decent locations without shadows was getting difficult. The one I found near Mount Pulaski was g...

Friday was my birthday so I took a vacation day and spent the day looking for action that I would not normally see.    The Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Industry 2 job soon became the focus of my attention, as evidenced by 32 minutes of footage! CAPTION: The Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's "Industry 2" Job works the Uptown Division between Bridge Junction and the North Limit Yard in Peoria, Illinois on May 9, 2025. TZPR 1352 left East Peoria with 18 cars - four empty flats for Komatsu America Corp. plant, six corn syrup loads, a sodium gluconate empty and sodium hydroxide solution load for PMP Fermentation Products, two empty alcohol and three possible distillers corn oil empties (or buffer cars) for BioUrja Renewables LLC. A tank car between the last two cars for PMP appears to have used as a buffer. Train pulled one chassis load and an empty BNSF flat car from Komatsu and five corn syrup empties from PMP. Last scene shows the train across the river after sw...

I was already up north moments from my parked car when I heard the horn, either at Alta Road or Ridgeview Road (Pioneer) further south. W. Farmington Road seemed like the best place to get this one, and it arrived barely a minute after I parked.  CAPTION: A Union Pacific coal train is shown at W. Farmington Road near Peoria, Illinois early afternoon Sunday, December 29, 2024. UP 5886 and UP 8618 have 135 loads with UP 6256 as DPU. Later, the train rolls by Cilco Lane at Sommer, shortly before entering Crescent Junction at the Illinois & Midland Railroad's Crescent Yard at Powerton. I kind of expected this one to be in the area today, after being loaded at Prairie Central Co-Operative's Greenfield (Chenoa) rail loop. A TP&W crew took it all the way to Pekin on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroads double track where a UP crew waited.  CAPTION: A Union Pacific grain train rolls along the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's double track main in Pekin, Illinois early-a...

I left work early when I learned that Union Pacific was running a loaded, northbound coal train on the Peoria Sub!   And when it appeared nothing was running smoothly, I wonder if I could have seen this train anyway had a I not left work early.   The first delay was a GFL garbage truck hitting the truss bridge over Rt. 29 at Pekin. Union Pacific had to send out someone to inspect the bridge for damage. Fortunately, there was no damage to the track structure, and the train was cleared to depart South Pekin.    Next, soggy weather and wet rails are a problem for loaded, northbound coal trains, but distributed power assisted the train's attack up Pioneer Hill, preventing a stall.  CAPTION: Union Pacific train CGMBV (Coal, Gateway Mine IL to Beverly IA) rolls by W. Farmington Road mid-afternoon Friday, December 27, 2024. Later, after fighting Pioneer Hill, the train runs past Akron Services Inc. at Akron. UP 7891 and UP 6198 on the point, 134 coal loads and UP 6246...

I caught the latest Union Pacific grain train loaded at the TP&W-served ADM Grain Co terminal at Clymers, Indiana.  The TP&W delivered to Union Pacific at sister Illinois & Midland Railroad's Powerton Yard, and a UP crew had already moved it to South Pekin and broke it at the Townline Road crossing.  I arrived when the next crew was putting the train together to go south.  CAPTION: A southbound Union Pacific grain extra is shown north and south of Green Valley, Illinois early-evening Sunday, June 9, 2024. UP 8818, UP 5659 and UP 7004 have 112 cars. Train was loaded at ADM Grain Co's Clymers, Indiana terminal, routed west over the TP&W and delivered to the UP at the Illinois & Midland Railroad's Powerton Yard near Pekin.   - David P. Jordan

On my way to the downtown library this morning, I noticed a TP&W train building a train at the west end of the East Peoria Yard. I figured it was close to departing, so I stopped off W. Washington Street. Sure enough, radio chatter confirmed my suspicions.  CAPTION: A Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway East Peoria Switcher negotiates the curve toward the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard to make a delivery late-morning Saturday, April 27, 2024. IORY 5014 has 32 cars.   Waiting for the TP&W transfer to show itself, I had already received a heads up on Iowa Interstate's SIPE. As soon as the TP&W passed my position, I headed north along Rt. 29, encountering SIPE just before The Narrows. I turned around and set up at Lorentz Ave.  CAPTION: Iowa Interstate Railroad manifest SIPE (Silvis IL to Peoria IL) enters the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Uptown Division at the North Limit Yard midday Saturday, April 27, 2024. IAIS 517 and IAIS 700 have ...

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...

I saw something unusual this afternoon.  I decided to check if Union Pacific was running MPECL a third Sunday afternoon in a row. When I came down W. Farmington Road hill from the west, the gates were lowering! So I decided to head south to the old Molitor Junction area just south of Harman Highway to wait. My hoped for MPECL turned out to be a 133-car train of coal empties led by a single locomotive.  I assume this was a trainset bound for storage. I know it crossed the river, possibly for interchange to the Illinois & Midland RR at Crescent/Powerton, or South Pekin to be taken south by another crew, or storage there temporarily. Wish I knew.  CAPTION: An southbound empty Union Pacific coal train rolls by Milepost 80 at Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Sunday, March 31, 2024. UP 7375 has 133 cars.   David P. Jordan

I don't know if L556/L557 made its usual Monday/Tuesday cycle this week. If it did, today's lengthy consist may be explained by season surges in ADM grain products moving between Cedar Rapids and Decatur plants.  The UP motor might have come off of a Decatur-bound coal train. The IC SD70s have been assigned to Decatur for awhile now.  CAPTION: Canadian National Railway train L557 (Local, E. Peoria IL to Decatur IL) rolls across Fifth Street near South Pekin, Illinois mid-afternoon Thursday, December 21, 2023. UP 7510, IC 1036 and IC 1038 have 86 cars.   David P. Jordan

I felt like Wile E. Coyote with the storm following me and the train... When I arrived South Pekin, the train was sitting on the main track waiting for the crew to arrive. So I went to the local Casey's, used the facilities and bought a snack. Shortly after returning trackside, the crew arrived and it started to rain. I had to shoot from my car at Townline Road.  I thought I had a chance of getting it again at Allen Station, so I waited out a heavier downpour before the train's arrival. It was still raining when it rolled by, so again I shot from my car. The first scene was done with my phone, the second with my new camera. Overcast and inclement weather aren't the best conditions for getting used to a camera.  CAPTION: A southbound Union Pacific train of ballast empties (mostly) departs South Pekin, Illinois mid-afternoon Sunday, September 17, 2023. Later, the train rolls by Encompass Grain & Rail's Allen Station grain elevator. UP 8976 has 61 cars, a few of which...