Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF's Barstow (IL) Sub under water...

Since Tuesday, BNSF's Barstow Sub (between Savanna and Galesburg IL, ex- CB&Q, a.k.a the "Peavine") succumbed to the Rock River, and has been shut down for 24 hours so far. It's right near Barstow (IL), and the culprit appears to be an ice floe broken loose. The RR is not now doing any work to remedy the situation, as experts with various consulting firms have said they could do more damage than good. And with the temperatures expected to be below freezing for a few days, this closure will be around be awhile it seems.

About 10-12 trains a day use this line, and some traffic is being rerouted via the IMRL between Savanna IL and Davenport IA and a combination of other routes. No priority trains of the "Z" nature travel the Barstow Sub.

Not surprising given the HEAVY rains Saturday in the Rochelle-Dixon area combined with temperatures in the 50's! Driving west from Rochelle on Sunday, I saw farm fields with ponded water that, because of 30 mph winds, had whitecaps. I'm not kidding. It is surprising that this is the only flooding problem reported, although the "Peavine" in the Barstow, IL, area is usually one of the first places to flood when the water is high.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

To add to Chilli's post there is a huge ice dam developed on the Rock River jammed up under the Burlington bridge near Barstow & Moline, IL. It has been on some of the national news media. The flow is several miles long so it will be a while before breaking up.

Today there are two iron ore trains running as detours over the Mendota Sub between Galesburger and Eola, (Aurora, IL):

U SAUBIR0 25T w/BNSF 7901, EMD 9040, BNSF 4500, BNSF 1013. 103 Loads and almost 14,000 tons. Departed Eola headed west at 0749.

U BIRSAU9 19T w/BNSF 8256, ATSF 913, BNSF 4561. 130 Empties.
Departed Galesburg headed east at 0927.

The power consist may not be correct until passing a scanner as most BN power line ups are either scambled or reversed. The time figures were checked about 45" ago.
Would suspect the trains are going to Eola to reverse direction back west to run up the C&I to LaCross, WI. Thereby circumventing the flooded portion of the Rock River. OR are they running over the EJ&E?
Would Saunders, WI be near Superior, WI?
Maybe one of the Cheese Heads can contribute an answer but want to remain PC.
Down here when a Santa Fe crew gets the call for an Ore train they say "OR what?" Then they visualize a train load of boat OARs.
Isn't it great to be interconected by an organized confusion of twisted steel rail? IG

I'm not familiar with the EJ&E can you give me a little more info on this line.

Santa Fe fan, please check your e-mail for an answer to the EJ&E.