dhaugh wrote:That's more of an answer than I would've dreamed of getting. Thanks a lot. Now, a related question. Assuming I have limited time in this part of Illinois - I am looking at spending some time in a few of these towns -
Decatur, which I now know a lot about
Effingham
Springfield
Peoria
What in anyone's recommendation would you do, say you had time to hit two of the above four. Keep in mind I like a nice cross between seeing frequent manifests, but I also am into seeing big industry (Caterpillar, ADM, tractor plants if any... etc...
Well, Effingham is a hotspot where major CN and CSXT lines cross. A shortline, Effingham Railroad (EFRR -
http://www.efrr.com/), serves an industrial park there and interchanges with both Class 1's. If you want heavy mainline action, this is the place to go among the other three.
I live in Peoria and we are blessed with ten common carrier railroads, mostly shortlines with a variety of motive power, traffic and industry.
BNSF's Chillicothe Subdivision passes through the northern extremes of Peoria County and goes through Chillicothe, Edelstein, Princeville and Monica. This double track CTC line sees 50 to 70 trains per day depending on the time of year.
BNSF's Peoria Subdivision (from Galesburg) sees unit coal and grain (almost all CN haulage trains) trains, with occasional feed and potash trains showing up some days. TP&W operates BNSF's manifest trains Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays under a haulage agreement. There is little online traffic as almost everything is interchanged to and from Peoria connections. TP&W switches Caterpillar's southside rubber components plant and occasionally delivers a flat car load of machinery to the demonstration grounds at Edwards.
CN's Peoria Subdivision (from Mattoon through Decatur) sees much heavier traffic on its north end than in IC days. A daily local makes a turn out of Decatur to East Peoria with the hope of completing the run within the crew's 12 hours of service, but doesn't always. Grain trains coming out of Iowa are handled by BNSF under a haulage agreement between East Dubuque and Peoria, and a coal trains comes from BNSF every week and foreign power runs through to Decatur. A coal train is also run each week to interchange with the Iowa Interstate at Peoria. CN serves Amerhart and Hanna Steel in Pekin and Taloma Farmers Grain in Delavan.
Central Illinois Railroad (CIRY) operates a small portion of the city-owned Peoria, Peoria Heights & Western to serve O'Brien Steel. They use a trackmobile to do this. Service is as needed.
Illinois & Midland (IMRR) operates mainly coal trains received from BNSF and Union Pacific at Powerton (just SW of Pekin). Locomotives from these RR's are used to switch the train at Midwest Generation LLC's massive Powerton Generating Station and to run coal trains to Havana and Kincaid (SE of Springfield). Powerton Switchers are on duty twice per day, seven days a week. One may catch one of them making a transfer turn to sister road Tazewell & Peoria's East Peoria Yard. A local operates the length of the system to handle non-coal traffic as needed. The world's only EMD RS-1325's - #'s 30 and 31 - are still operated by this railroad. At least one is based at Powerton. IMRR serves Aventine Renewable Energy's wet corn mill, Agridyne LLC, American Milling, a railroad-owned rail-to-barge facility, Midwest Generation LLC and Reed Minerals.
KJRY operates TP&W's former West End between Lomax/Keokuk and Hollis with trackage rights on BNSF to reach Fort Madison and Union Pacific and Tazewell & Peoria to reach East Peoria. Coal trains are received from Union Pacific about 2 or 3 times per week (suspended until April due to boiler modernization at AmerenCILCO's Duck Creek Station near Canton) and local trains based at Canton Monday, Wednesday and Friday (these "turn" to Good Hope and East Peoria). A new siding at Kolbe (near Mapleton off Rt. 24 and Wheeler Road) is the location of a pair of newly-painted ex-Algoma Central FP-9's lettered "Peoria & Western," the name KJRY will assume at some point in the near future. Also, an EMD-reengined RS-3 (#102) is usually parked there for use by the car repair shop crew. GP20's may be sitting there was well awaiting their next assignment.
Norfolk Southern's operations to Peoria are usually nocturnal with roadswitcher D49D going on duty at Good Yard in Normal at 2000 hrs each weekday. A turn is made to East Peoria each night. The 0800 roadswitcher, D47D, may relieve the train if the crew can't complete its run within their 12 hours of service. NS serves no customers west of the Bloomington-Normal area.
Tazewell & Peoria RR (TZPR) is the area's terminal and switching carrier, centering all operations out of its large East Peoria Yard. The TZPR has about six or seven jobs going each day switching industries and making transfer runs. Most area carload interchange involves the TZPR and the interchange of unit trains takes place on TZPR's Wesley Jct. - Pekin double track CTC line and/or they are handled by TZPR crews. Customers served are: Komatsu America International, PMP Fermentation, ADM Growmark, Archer Daniels Midland (grain delivery, outbound grain products), Archer Daniels Midland (alcohol loadout), American Allied Freight Car, R. A. Cullinan & Son, Peoria Barge Terminal, Peoria River Terminal, LS Lumber, Allied Iron & Steel and Behr Peoria in Peoria; Alter Recycling LLC and Keystone Steel & Wire's steelworks and rod mill complex, the Mid Mill and Wire Mill in Bartonville; Mosaic's fertilizer warehouse and barge dock are served across the river from Pekin via a spur which diverges from the Union Pacific mainline at Sommer; McFarland Cascade's pole yard and Caterpillar's Building's LL (tractor frame fabrication) and SS (track-type tractor assembly) are served in East Peoria; in Creve Coeur, Carver Lumber and Peoria Brick & Tile lease space in the freight house, Keen Transport stores Caterpillar machinery and consolidates shipments and misc. freight is handled such as liquid plastic and roofing shingles. A short distance down the Pekin mainline along the southern end of Wesley Road, an ADM Growmark grain elevator and barge dock are served as are Terra Nitrogen, ConAgra Fertilizer and Koch Industries. In Pekin, Aventine Renewable Energy's wet corn mill and newly-opened dry corn mill are served while BOC Gases, MGP Ingredients, Praxair and Tomen Grain are served as well.
Toledo, Peoria & Western operates its East End between East Peoria and Logansport, dispatching an alternate-day "through" freight to and from Remington, Indiana to handle merchandise, some local traffic, CSXT traffic and CN intermodal. AM and PM switchers handle local customers, interchanges and transfer runs daily. The Kolbe Local works the Mapleton Industrial Spur (trackage rights on TZPR, UP and KJRY required to reach it). TP&W serves numerous grain elevators and fertilizer dealers on its East End but closer to the Peoria area, Grainland Co-op at Cruger (which has a UP switcher still in armour yellow); Fort Transfer and Morton Buildings, Nestle USA/Libby's (last served in 2005) at Morton; the East Peoria Materials and Rail Yard (inbound aggregates and road salt) and intermodal terminal at East Peoria; ADM Growmark, Caterpillar (rubber products), Peoria Barge Terminal and Peoria River Terminal at Peoria; and Chemtura, Degussa-Goldschmidt, Corn Products, Lonza, Caterpillar foundry and CF Industries are served at Mapleton.
Union Pacific's Peoria Subdivision sees mainly unit coal trains (2-4 loaded per day, plus corresponding empties) but also sees alternate-day Clinton, Iowa - Peoria manifests, daily manifests MPRPB and MASPR, plus extras; unit urea trains in winter, seasonal grain and potash trains and an occasional northbound coal train. Coal trains for the KJRY came from th Monterey Mine near Carlinville, though when the boiler modernization is complete, western coal may come instead. Sunday through Thursday, the Peoria Wayfreight goes on duty at 1700 hrs at Adams Street Yard on Peoria's far south side. UP serves Akron Services at Akron (just south of the BNSF overpass west of Edelstein), ADM Growmark, Peoria Barge Terminal and Peoria River Terminal in Peoria and AmerenCILCO's E. D. Edwards Station at Sommer. Traffic on this line norht of Edelstein will increase considerably during the next several years as the connection to the BNSF is completed, new passing sidings and eventual double track and CTC is installed, enabling the line to host multiple intermodal and motor vehicle trains.
SPRINGFIELD has little industry but action on Norfolk Southern's Decatur - Kansas City line is moderate and if lacking much in the way of freight operations, Union Pacific's East St. Louis - Joliet line sees ten daily Amtrak trains. Alternate-day MASBN and MBNAS ply the line between East St. Louis and Bloomington and a local works out of Bloomington on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday AM, returning north the next day. IMRR bases a switcher here to interchange with other railroads and to perform local work. The shortline uses UP power for its Kincaid coal trains that run through the city. CN has a daily job out of Clinton to handle local traffic, interchanges and the coal mine at Farmersville. KCS has a tri-weekly local comin gout of Roodhouse, though I believe it's nocturnal.