Western Railroad Discussion > Keokuk Junction F Units - how much longer?

With the impending merger of Pioneer Railcorp with Brookhaven Rail Partners one wonders what the status of the F units on the Keokuk Junction (owned by Pioneer) will be.  The F's, of Algoma Central heritage, are used in regular freight service on the KJ.  They could be gone in a heartbeat following the merger or they could be hauling freight for another decade or more.   It was time to load the cameras and charge batteries for the drone and head west as beautiful sunny but hot weather was predicted for Friday, July 12, 2019.  #1750 would take the lead followed by B unit 1761 and geep 2003 trailing.  It should be noted that 1752, the other A unit, was seen at the LaHarpe engine house waiting for repairs.  Please enjoy some of the photos from the day as the train made its way through typical Illinois corn fields, through small towns and elevators, and whatever else.

Pacing the train at the breakneck speed of 10 mph as it nears the village of Cuba.

The next two photos show the train crossing over the Spoon River near Seville.

More to follow...


 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/19 05:05 by Q4960.

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Marietta, New Philidelphia and then crossing the BNSF at Bushnell.

More...

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Good Hope, Sciota and Blandinsville.

and a couple of more to follow...

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Blandinsville again and the final shot nearing LaHarpe.

Heavy spring rains had not been kind to the Keokuk Junction, interrupting service.  As of now the train runs once a week west out of Kolbe, IL, just east of Mapleton.  Generally the train goes west one day and back the next.  If the train goes west on Friday it may not come back until Monday.  Another day is spent making a delivery to the TZ in Peoria.

Roger Holmes

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Great trip to Keokuk Junction F-unit territory.   Great aerial coverage-!  Appreciate your informative post Roger.

Nice chase.  You had some pretty harsh lighting conditions at the beginning but those last few at the end are nicely lit.

Awesome series! Sure hope those F's stick aroud!

Great shots!  Love the drone perspective!
What species of bird were you flying?

Hopmere Hank

Good stuff, Roger! You've got me wondering how I can sneak a quick 2-3 day jaunt over that way into the ol' budget... :^)

Lance/199

Great shots, I really like the 4 one with the curves. In that shot do you know anything about the track in the weeds, was it a siding?

HH Wrote:
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> Great shots!  Love the drone perspective!
> What species of bird were you flying?
>
> Hopmere Hank

DJI Phantom 3 Standard drone

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/19 15:28 by Q4960.

inCHI Wrote:
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> Great shots, I really like the 4 one with the
> curves. In that shot do you know anything about
> the track in the weeds, was it a siding?

I'm sorry that I don't know anything about the track although I believe it to be a spur from some long gone business.

Posted from Android

They have 3 other ex- AC FP's still in their AC paint in their deadline at LaHarpe, also. === === = === JLH

Fantastic photos, so cool that hose F units are still earning their keep. I saw some of the line around Keokuk a few years ago, but didn’t have time to look for the F’s. So appreciate all the photos. Someone at the NMRA convention commented that we should be taking photos of everything because you never know when it will be gone. I’ve done the “I’ll catch it next time” and missed my chance.

Nathan

Posted from iPhone