PEORIA – BNSF Railway brought a 54-car train of wind turbine tower sections into the area this afternoon.
Originating at Houston, Texas on September 29, the train worked its way north through east Texas and Arkansas, finally entering the state of Illinois by Friday evening. Despite the rainy weather, I got out and photographed the train as it made its way from Galesburg to Peoria.
By late Saturday afternoon, BNSF delivered the train (seen above from the U. S. 24 viaduct on Peoria’s far south edge) to the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad (TZPR) in East Peoria.
About 6:30pm, a TZPR train crew dragged the 54-car train to the Toledo Peoria & Western Railway’s East Peoria Yard, two miles to the east (see below).
The 54-car train required the close attention of railroad personnel as it crossed the Farm Creek truss bridge due to tight clearances. The train crawled at 3mph, causing long traffic backups.
At the TP&W yard, the tower sections, manufactured by P. T. Korindo in Indonesia, will be unloaded and stored at an onsite staging facility then trucked to their final destination.
I can’t help but wonder if Union Pacific should have handled these trains through Springfield at 3mph along that city’s so-called “Third Street” tracks. Then, maybe the extremely limited time trains do stop motorists at the city’s numerous grade crossings would be appreciated 
- David P. Jordan
3 responses so far ↓
1
Jason Myers
// Oct 5, 2009 at 1:10 am
The people in Springfield would have thought it was the end of the world. Whats sad about the whole problem down there is it’s a hand full of people that have the facts wrong and the Springfield media twisting every little word. When gas gets over 4 or 5 dollars or higher they are all going to be screaming why wasn’t this put in a long time ago and demand the goverment to do something right now. It’s cheaper to ride the train than it is to fly or drive long distances. Yes it may take longer to ride the train in some cases but it’s cheaper.
2
SP
// Oct 7, 2009 at 1:33 pm
As I was driving through East Peoria today I noticed another long train full of turbine parts. These things are going up all over the place!
3
wind turbines
// Oct 12, 2009 at 1:58 am
The tower of large wind turbines are difficult to deliver by truck. Train is a very good delivery way but not suitable for all area.
Leave a Comment