P&E west of Bloomington and Gibson City and other questi

Was in the Bloomington Gibson City area last weekend and had some observations to ask questions about.
When was the P&E abandoned west out of Bloomington and is it still intact east towards Champaign/Urbana?

In regards to Gibson City i saw a westbound NS grain train sitting on a siding along the old NKP a eastbound grain train with CP rail power sitting on the main. The westbound was sitting and looked to be awaiting a crew and the eastbound was waiting to take a clear aspect across the CNIC.
Whats the daily train frequency on the old wabash south of town and the CNIC? I know the NS gets rignts on the old Wabash north of town but exactly how many trains runt through town on both lines?

Going to Bloomington last Friday passed througn Forest and noticed what appeared to be a old depot or some other RR related building in the weeds and trees north of were the TPW and Wabash crossed. Is this structure privatley owned or whats the deal with it? Also noticed the distant and home signals on the TPW are all still up but turned aside.. Wierd considering the old Wabash has been gone since 1990...

Its late so ill ask more questions later on..
Have class at school tomorrow so ill get to bed!!

>Was in the Bloomington Gibson City area last weekend and had some >observations to ask questions about.
>When was the P&E abandoned west out of Bloomington and is it still >intact east towards Champaign/Urbana?

The P&E was abandoned west of Bloomington in 1984 after a bridge over the Mackinaw River washed out and Conrail decided not to repair it (instead reaching Pekin via N&W and P&PU trackage rights). The track was removed in 1986. Some track through Bloomington remained until 1988. The P&E is still intact between Bloomigton and Urbana. The diamond has been removed at Mansfield (where it crossed the ex-WAB) and is out of service west of there. Autoracks are stored at the Bloomington end at times. East of Mansfield, the line is used by NS to reach Champaign/Urbana to serve three customers - The Andersons at Rising and Emulsicoat and Solo Cup Company at Urbana.

>In regards to Gibson City i saw a westbound NS grain train sitting on a >siding along the old NKP a eastbound grain train with CP rail power >sitting on the main. The westbound was sitting and looked to be awaiting >a crew and the eastbound was waiting to take a clear aspect across the >CNIC.
>Whats the daily train frequency on the old wabash south of town and the >CNIC? I know the NS gets rignts on the old Wabash north of town but >exactly how many trains runt through town on both lines?

Things have changed on the NS in the last year or so but they are allowed four trains per day on the CN north of Gibson City. These are manifest trains, although a unit steel train runs from Granite City to Burns Harbor (I've seen it Sunday evening). In addition, a Decatur - Normal turn called D42 runs daily. A work train called D40 seems to be running and does local work between Bement and Bloomington. Grain extras are called frequently as well as there are numerous grain elevators on the Bloomington District. A Normal - Bement train called D46 may still run to forward Mitsubishi vehicle traffic to western connections. Also, an occasional train made up of empty autoracks runs from Kansas City to Normal. I would say the old Wabash south of Gibson City sees 8-10 trains per day.

>Going to Bloomington last Friday passed through Forest and noticed >what appeared to be a old depot or some other RR related building in >the weeds and trees north of were the TPW and Wabash crossed. Is this >structure privately owned or whats the deal with it? Also noticed the >distant and home signals on the TPW are all still up but turned aside.. >Weird considering the old Wabash has been gone since 1990...

TP&W does weird things. Not sure who owns the structure.

DPJ

The P&E and N&W ran side-by-side from Rhodes Lane, on the southeast side of Bloomington all the way to a point along Washington Street, just west of the GM&O crossing. Conrail merged the P&E up with the N&W just between Rhodes Lane and Bunn Street, just east of where the junkyard is now. I was over there this afternoon and the P&E tracks were very rusty. Just east of Bunn Street is where Dean Tower was located, which controlled the crossing of the IC "Charter Line" and the IT with the P&E and N&W. Does anyone know when this tower was closed and razed?

Whats the future hold for the old PE east of Bloomington?
I also noticed that Veterans Parkway crosses over the old NKP but when i was in town i could see no sign of the old IC Charter branch at all. Was veterans built after the IC was removed?

>Whats the future hold for the old PE east of Bloomington?

It's currently "railbanked" for possible future use. I'm sure Rails-to-Trails fanatics are eying it. A few grain elevators and fertilizer dealers might be enough for a shortline but it's NS's choice what to do with it.

>I also noticed that Veterans Parkway crosses over the old NKP but when >i was in town i could see no sign of the old IC Charter branch at all. Was >veterans built after the IC was removed?

I think Veterans was bridged over the old Charter Line but that may have been eliminated since the line was pulled up in the mid-1980's.

On my Steam Locomotive Archive web site (URL below) there is a photo of an IC 2-8-0 on the Charter Line at Dean Tower in 1957, with the Route 66 (now Veterans Parkway) overpass in the background. Go to the Illinois Central page and scroll down about 7 photos. In those days it wasn't Veterans Parkway, only US-66.

Nice photo of Dean. Does anyone know when that tower was razed, and when the last IC train passed through the junction? I know the P&E was abandoned by Conrail in 1986, but when was it cut west of Dean?

>Nice photo of Dean. Does anyone know when that tower was razed, and >when the last IC train passed through the junction?

The tower was closed in the early 1970's. Not sure when it was torn down.

>I know the P&E was abandoned by Conrail in 1986, but when was it cut >west of Dean?

Conrail abandoned the old P&E west of Bloomington in 1984 (through trains may have used the N&W west of Dean from early 1983. I am still trying to confirm these things).

If you ever get a chance to buy a VHS/DVD by Roger Holmes called "Central Illinois Railfanning 1988" several scenes of N&W and one CR train are included. Early that year, the old P&E track is still in place but the grade crossings look paved. Later in the year, the Conrail track has been removed through the city anf the N&W had been upgraded with heavier rail and cwr.

So Conrail actually shut down the P&E west of Bloomington in 1984? Does anyone know when the last train ran west of there? BTW, is that N&W line block-signaled?

>So Conrail actually shut down the P&E west of Bloomington in 1984? >Does anyone know when the last train ran west of there? BTW, is that >N&W line block-signaled?

There was a derailment near Danvers on December 2, 1982 and some people believe that this led to Conrail's abandonment of the P&E west of Bloomington. I've also heard that the abandonment was due to a washed out bridge near Mackinaw, which occured in 1984. I haven't been able to confirm which one is correct.

It is possible that both are correct, to some extent. It is possible that Conrail's daily pair of Indianapolis - East Peoria manifests began detouring on the N&W shortly after the December 2, 1982 derailment near Danvers. The initial detour route had Conrail trains running on home rails to Kentland, Indiana then TP&W (w/TP&W pilot) to East Peoria. The first train to use this route was itself involved in a minor derailment at EP!

If Conrail's INPE and PEIN trains began detouring over the N&W by late 1982/early 1983, then it is possible that Conrail continued to work local customers at Danvers and Tremont until the business dried up. I believe the 1989 Illinois Rail Plan mentions an official abandonment date of June 1984.

I'll try to do some more research.