Western Railroad Discussion > Railfanning Springfield IL any ideas?

I was gonna take a drive this weekend or next is there any good spots around Springfield IL. I have been to Centralia for BNSF and IC/CN, and been to Effingham for IC/CN, EIRC and CSX. If no good sites in Springfield how about any other ideas.

Michael Gmoser
Saint Louis, MO

UP runs two regular jobs a day though there, the MASBN/MBNAS, and maybe a local, depending on the day. There's always a few grain trains moving around, coming off the I&M at Ridgley Tower, which is a good place to hang out at, the tower operators are usually friendly. The I&M runs at least a couple trains a day down that way, plus all the usual identical looking Amtrak garbage rolling through. Plus, down in the south end of town there is the NS line running east/west, and that is always pretty active, and you'll see a couple RoadRailer trains during the day. The Amtrak station is always a sure bet to catch Amtrak and UP jobs, but you won't see anything from the I&M.

Go to the south west corner of where the ns/up come together. This is where you will see the most trains. It is just west of the 55/72 joining. You have to go into a neighborhood and cross the tracks and follow a road to a deadend. There is an industry there that gets potash cars. You also get the up MDMAS and MNLDM. These take the im to barr and get onto up rails there (ex cnw). The cn runs a local into town and some coal trains to a mine at the end of the line. The im hosts up coal trains to Kinkaid, IL. Finally the KCS comes off the NS to the west of the up/ns jct. Also cn has trackage rights on the kcs to a grain elevator west of town. West of town you can also see where the cnw right of way was high on a fill/bridges. If you want to see bnsf head to the diamond in Jacksonville. Finally Roodhouse is the place to see some kcs trains.

theirishlion Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was gonna take a drive this weekend or next is
> there any good spots around Springfield IL. I have
> been to Centralia for BNSF and IC/CN, and been to
> Effingham for IC/CN, EIRC and CSX. If no good
> sites in Springfield how about any other ideas.

There is the active tower on the north end of town(forget the name off hand).
Just north of old I &M yards.
Public access by street on east side and south of tower, and you can kind of sneak around in some lots on the other side(ie not on RR property).

Bob

peoriarr1 Wrote:
--- You also get
> the up MDMAS and MNLDM. These take the im to barr
> and get onto up rails there (ex cnw).

Is this pair a recent addition to this corridor? If so then maybe this is part of the increased traffic thru Springfield that UP made reference to some months ago? I seem to recall UP ran a Des Moines to Parsons, KS manifest and a N. Little Rock to Des Moines via KC. Does this pair replace those via KC? Does UP still run the MPRNL(Proviso-N. Little Rock) and MASPR via Springfield/Peoria/Nelson?

I recall before the UP took over the CNW, The CNW ran a Marshalltown-Peoria manifest. Later it became a Beverly(Cedar Rapids)- Peoria and I think later just a Clinton-Peoria manifest. Does the MDMAS/MNLDM also handle the Peoria business both to/from St. Louis and to/from the ex-CNW main line?

With the addition of a couple of double stacks between Edelstein and Nelson it appears the Peoria sub is becoming a more important line in the UP route structure.

Anyone?

Mexrail