Flat country, long train and a nice little mix of power. The perfect combination.

You can almost hear the clang, clang, clang of that gong bell as this freight moves by in the late afternoon sun. Photo by Jim Satterwhite, from my collection.

Only North Western had these without dynamic brakes. They look a little "funny". And this is an interesting but rather typical consist in those days. They did get some with D/B-equipp... (more)

Bound for St. Louis, a southbound Chicago & North Western freight train departs the crew change point and yard at South Pekin, Illinois, on the cold winter day of January 26, 1985.

CN Peoria local doing work in South Pekin.

UP yellow contrasts well with dark skies that portend heavy rains.

Southbound unit coal train

On a trip to central Illinois in February 1984, I paced a northbound C&NW train on its "SI" line (between Nelson, IL and East St. Louis, IL) through blizzard conditions. After the snow paused for ... (more)

Canadian National's Peoria Local stops in South Pekin, IL to pick up a few hoppers from the siding on its way back south to Decatur, IL. In the foreground is some irrigation equipment used to wate... (more)

Finally after nine hours of pumping the air up the empty CN Cedar Rapids coal train is under way and is heading south at track speed on the CN Peoria Subdivision. With the temperature hovering aro... (more)

A southbound Union Pacifc grain train rounds the curve at Chester L Rd. North of South Pekin, IL. Whats neat about this grain train is that at the other end of the train it has a single DPU unit o... (more)

Union Pacific MDMAS has just arrived at Townline Rd. just South of South Pekin and now waits for a new crew. The pile of ties on the right is pretty much all that is left of the Chicago & North We... (more)

A Southbound UP Grain train waits for a fresh crew just South of South Pekin at Townline Rd. on a very warm February day. The tracks to the left are what is left of the Chicago & North Western yar... (more)

Union Pacific train MPRPB heads South on the Union Pacific Peoria Subdivision. The train is seen here crossing the Mackinaw River Bridge at Mackinaw Valley Park Rd., Just South of South Pekin, IL ... (more)

UP's Engineering Special heads into South Pekin for its scheduled crew change.