Railfanning In and Around Galesburg, Illinois on 17.08.11

My first trip to the western Illinois railroad hotspot of Galesburg proved to be a great sampling of what the area has to offer the railfan. Either on purpose or by accident, I found a few nice places to set up and catch the action. Train descriptions follow:

Train 1:
At milepost 176.61, BNSF's former Santa Fe Chillicothe Sub goes underneath its former BN / CB&Q Aurora Sub. BNSF C44-9Ws #4096 and 4540 slowly lead a stack train east on a restricting signal indication

Train 2:
On the Aurora Sub, on top of the elevation above the previous location, BNSF GP28M #1529 pulls out for headroom, then shoves its train back. The rear end of the train is in the north end of Galesburg Yard.

Train 3:
At the south end of the Galesburg area is Saluda Wye. This is where an ex-CB&Q line from the south enters Galesburg Yard and wraps around it, connecting to the ex-Santa Fe line. BNSF ES44DC #7404, NS C40-9W #9515 and NS SD70M-2 #2709 take the west leg of the wye with a long manifest.

Train 4:
Amtrak's northbound train #3, the California Zephyr, races north toward Galesburg at CP Clay. P42DCs #136 and 174 lead the standard consist.

Train 5:
Not long afterward, southbound train #6, the Southwest Chief with P42DCs #206 and 133 leading, races onto the single track at Clay.

Train 6:
Near Graham, on the far western side of Galesburg, a BNSF intermodal heads west. Graham is where the line bypassing Galesburg Yard meets the line heading west out of it- the Santa Fe-style signals in the distance control this junction. C44-9Ws #4462, 5430 and 5429 power the stack train west.

Train 7:
Back in downtown Galesburg, ex-Burlington Northern SD40-2 #1848 shoves a long cut of cars into Galesburg Yard and past the Amtrak station in the distance, as a Geep pulls out of the yard.

~Thanks for watching!~

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• BNSF
• Galesburg
• IL
• Illinois
• train
• trains
• railfanning
• railfan
• CB&Q
• BN
• Santa Fe
• railroad
• railway
• rail
• freight
• GP28
• GP28M
• C44-9W
• dash-9
• SD70M-2
• ES44DC
• gevo
• ES40DC
• NS
• Norfolk Southern
• Saluda Wye
• Galesburg Yard
• Amtrak
• passenger
• Southwest Chief
• California Zephyr
• Chillicothe
• Aurora Sub

[RochelleXing]

The Aurora Sub dosent go through Galesburg I think you mean the Mendota Sub

[Nachtwolf1]

@RochelleXing Yes, the Mendota.  My mistake.

[campk0]

I've been to Galesburg too. We went for railroad days. Rail fanning in Galesburg is great!!