East Peoria, IL: TZPR/(PPU+NKP) Railyard & Coaling Tower and staging windmill parts

(Satellite)

TZPR = Tazwell & Peoria Railroad

PPU = Peoria & Pekin Union Railway, CR-IC-NS-UP joint, later TZPR

NKP = a LEW branch of the Nickle Plate

 

Noah Haggerty posted
P&PU NW2 #401 is seen idling at their roundhouse and yard complex with another steam locomotive in East Peoria, Illinois sometime around the late 1940's. William Sommerfield Photo, Thomas Dyrek Collection.

Ross Brocksmith posted two images with the comment:

Peoria & Pekin Union Yards

E Peoria

3-20-66

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Caterpillar product at lower right?

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Image Source/Credit: 

Ernest Grassel Collection

Only seen in-person in the Local History Collection

Downtown Branch of Peoria Public Library

#peoriapubliclibrary  #peorialocalhistory  #ernestgrasselcollection

From Grassel’s volumes titled TRANSPORTATION

Richard Fiedler shared

David Jordan: The wheel tractor scraper is probably a Caterpillar product, and would have assembled at Decatur from 1955. It was common to have these routed to a western U. S. Or Canadian point (or port) via Peoria, and occasionally are today. There is a possibility though that it could be a Fiatt-Allis scraper built at Springfield.

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Jason Myers posted
Railfanning from a Blackhawk helicopter. On April 28th my son Dakota snapped this shot of the TZPR yard from the helicopter he was on.
Alex Sansone: That’s a serious yard
Harold J. Krewer: Alex Sansone. that empty area at lower left was once another yard just as big. Used to have "A" yard and "B" yard.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Jason's post
It appears the NKP(LEW) terminated in this yard.
1950 Peoria East Quad @ 24,000

Braytin Friedman posted two photos with the comment: "Anyone know who’s yard this is?"
David JordanDavid and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Peoria Illinois Railroads Trains & Shortlines. Tazewell & Peoria RR.
Braytin Friedman Where’s TPW yard?
David JordanDavid and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Peoria Illinois Railroads Trains & Shortlines. Two miles east.
Andy Zemlicka Did they takes tracks out sometime or why is the big void there.
David JordanDavid and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Peoria Illinois Railroads Trains & Shortlines. Andy Zemlicka P&PU had a contractor remove half of B Yard in summer 1990. Space has served various purposes since then, most recently for storage and staging of wind turbine components. A Yard (in the distance) is intact, though I believe some tracks are out of service.
Then-Illinois Central president Edward L. Moyers, having been P&PU's marketing director (1977-1985), knew of P&PU's overcapacity and had much unused track removed and sold for scrap. More than one P&PU employee told me they wished they had the capacity when BNSF-NS interchange got heavy in 1995-1999. I guess having nine Long Tracks (A-33 to A-41) might compensate somewhat these days.

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Because the Transporting Windmill Parts notes were getting so big and because these postings concern the staging of windmill parts in Yard B, I moved the Peoria related material to these notes.

David Jordan posted two photos with the comment: "Looks like new business, albeit temporary, is coming to the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad in East Peoria. Cranes being set up where half of B Yard had been until 1990 are used to load/unload wind turbine components." (Update: these are being staged for the Sugar Creek Wind project, southeast of New Holland.)
David JordanGroup Admin I'm assuming this may be related...    https://www.windpowerengineering.com/.../100-wind.../
David JordanGroup Admin http://www.sugarcreekwind.com/
Rob Woodrow Towers are built in Clinton, but most likely will go by truck to any site in Illinois.
David JordanGroup Admin Rotors (blades) and nacelles/hubs will probably come by rail then.
Dennis DeBruler shared with the question: "The name is on a slant, so I assume the red crane is a Manitowoc. Which model is it?"
JR Keller My triple 9 I'm assembling for wind mill parts to be off loaded here.

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JR Keller posted seven photos with the comment: "She is all together and ready to work. Bring on the windmill parts." This is the Manitowoc 999 that is being assembled in David's photos.

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David Jordan posted
The wind turbine train is sitting in TP&W's East Peoria Yard as of 1430 hours. There appear to be about 34 flat car loads of Vestas towers. Vestas North America manufactures these at a Union Pacific-served plant just south of Pueblo, Colorado, so that is where these may be from.
Gary Talsky Is the old RIP shed not used anymore or just accidentally empty?
David JordanGroup Admin At the start of 2014, TP&W car repair went to Watco Companies' facility at the TZPR's East Peoria Yard.

Nick Kneip posted
I thought I would share a picture I took of those windmill parts everyone has been talking about recently.
David JordanDavid and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Peoria Illinois Railroads Trains & Shortlines. Cool...looks like the outbound D49 train on A-41 (note Komatsu chassis load).
Walt Lied According to my maps, you might have been in restricted air space. Like the picture though.
Nick Kneip Odd because I never once got a message on my OS and I checked using AIRMAP before I took off too.
Walt Lied Nick Kneip i use AirMap. Too. Says most of that part of EP is restricted. Hey, the gotta catch ya
Nick Kneip Walt Lied maybe I need to look into that

David Jordan posted two photos with the comment:

Wind turbine towers were being unloaded at TZPR's East Peoria Yard this afternoon, February 27, 2018. Eighteeen loaded flat cars can be seen on a track which I believe is called "B-19." A number of towers have already been unloaded.

It looks like a tandem pick and carry. Note the greenish safety vest at the end of the tower being carried. That gives scale as to the diameter of the towers.

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And now the blades are coming to town. Jan Smith posted seven photos with the comment: "UP Wind Turbine blade train in Peoria, Illinois 03-03-18."

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Jan appears to have a railfan blog.

(new window) Please access David Jordan's posting of this video to see my comments concerning the mounts and the "fins".


John Woodrow posted two photos of a second train of blades that went to this staging yard.

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JR Keller posted fourteen photos with the comment: "Triple 9 series 3 very nice and smooth clean rig."

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This is a posting that another train of tower segments with 70 flat cars is headed to the yard on 3-12.
David JordanDavid is an administrator in this group. Train may be held in the TP&W yard until the most recent [second, I believe] blade train is unloaded.

David Jordan posted three photos with the comment: "Wind turbine blade (and tower) unloading at TZPR's East Peoria Yard this afternoon."

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Facebook Resolution

Tim Holmes posted four photos of another tower segment train with the comment: "Here is my take on todays windmill train today 3-22-18."

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TP&W 5010 climbing the hill at Secor, IL A Tim Homes Photo © 2018

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Just west of Secor, IL. A Tim Homes Photo © 2018

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Just east of Eureka, IL A Tim Homes Photo © 2018

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Cruger A Tim Homes Photo © 2018

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David Jordan posted four photos with the comment: "Early afternoon Thursday - wind turbine components unloading at the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard."
Ryan Mcgill Were are them gonna be built at?
David JordanDavid and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Peoria Illinois Railroads Trains & Shortlines. Ryan Mcgill Western Logan County.   http://www.sugarcreekwind.com/

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JR Keller posted two photos:
Ben StalveyBen and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts. Looks like that 999 is keeping busy.
JR Keller Yes it is. Burning a tank of fuel a day.
Dave Seiter What do those nacelles weigh???
JR Keller 158000 [79 tons]
Justin Scarborough Nice to see some Vestas stuff moving. [JR works for Vestas.]

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David Jordan posted three photos with the comment: "The staging area for wind turbine components at TZPR's East Peoria Yard is getting crowded. I shot these views this afternoon."

John Proefrock Apex Energy said yesterday that they will be trucking parts in when they start construction next year.
Tyler Perry Heard from a very reliable source that these are all going up north. west of Naperville. They are going to a wind farm named Walnut Grove or Walnut ridge.
David JordanDavid and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Peoria Illinois Railroads Trains & Shortlines. http://www.mortenson.com/.../walnut-ridge-wind-project

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David Jordan posted two photos with the comment: "All trains cleared out of the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's East Peoria Yard's Long Tracks on Sunday. These views (particularly the top one) offer an excellent view of the nine Long Tracks, A33-41."

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Comments on David's post
David Jordan: Also notice in the top photo that the A Yard's short tracks are pretty full. A cut with two or three Caterpillar loads on the head end may be Monday's outbound D49 (NS).

Comments on David's post