Eastern Railroad Discussion > Shortline Railroading plus an Alco

In 2019, the CN granted operating rights on a 10 mile branchline from Clinton IL to Heyworth IL to the new Illinois Terminal Belt RR (ITB). This short branch has only 2 customers; both are Tate & Lyle grain elevators (1 at Wapella and 1 at Heyworth). Currently, Wapella doesn't have a fall protection system for rail loading, so rail traffic is only moved from the Heyworth elevator. The Wapella elevator plans to ship by rail next year sometime (if things go as planned). The ITB only runs when unit trains are being moved, and up to this point, I hadn't caught any movements on the line. 
On Saturday, August 23 I got a heads up that they had an empty train to haul north, but first, they had to move south to set out a damaged car at Wapella. I started by catching the MP15ac with the damaged hopper leaving Heyworth, and continuing south to Wapella. At Wapella, the car would be spotted on the siding. This would involve moving the Tate & Lyle alco stored there. After dropping the car, the MP15ac moved south to Clinton to couple to the road's other power, already on the empty train to take back north. Unfortunately, I had plans later in the evening, so I didn't have time to follow the unit train back to Heyworth.
The ITB's 3 units are shown in the last clip. All trackage is 10 mph, making for an easy chase.
Enjoy!
    - Caleb
 

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Below are some of the photos I was able to capture from that day. 

1. Train departing Heyworth Elevator
2. Rolling past the Heyworth derail
3. Arriving Wapella for the hopper set-out.

more...

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4. Conductor Blake riding the shove back to couple to the alco.
5. With Alco in tow, shoving back to grab the hopper
6. Shoving back onto the siding in Wapella

more......

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7. Dropping the hopper and the Alco in the siding.
8. Preparing to continue south
9. Heading south through the cornfields outside Clinton

couple more...

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10. Crossing an old Illinois Central bridge
11. All 3 units coupled, preparing to pull the unit train north. 

Thanks for looking!
   -Caleb

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Interesting, I don’t think I’ve seen photos of this operation before.

Thanks,
Dan

Posted from iPhone

Really nice stuff, makes me miss the Midwest!

Out