HiDef: Railfanning the UP, CN, and CSX at Tuscola, IL - July 10th, 2011

[Watch in HD] On a hot Sunday with high temperatures in the 90s, I took a trip east to Tuscola's CN/UP/CSX diamond where I eventually met up with Alex Wood and Stephen Schmidt and had an excellent day trackside, although I was pretty sunburnt after.

Shot #1 - 8:42 a.m. (0:10)
With a neat CSX AC6000CW on the point, the UP ZLDYC heads for Villa Grove to change crews.
CSX AC6000CW 649
CSX Dash 8-40CW 7379

Shot #2 - 9:34 a.m. (1:51)
CN M336 eases down the CN Champaign Sub with a nice BC Rail leader as it heads down to South Tuscola to meet Amtrak 390.
BCOL C44-9W 4645
CN C40-8M 2421

Shot #3 - 9:52 a.m. (3:31)
The UP MPRAS is our first southbound UP train seen at Tuscola as it sneaks through with an ex-SP Dash 9 (still with its original flashing ditchlights) on the point and a great crew giving a horn show.
UP C44-9W 9614 (ex-SP)
UP C44-9W 9761 (ex-CNW)

Shot #4 - 9:58 a.m. (5:20)
Amtrak 390 heads for its next station stop, Champaign.
Amtrak P42DC 29

Shot #5 - 10:05 a.m. (5:43)
After being recrewed at Villa Grove, the UP OCHSJ "crude oil train" heads south behind the UP MPRAS.
CP AC44CW 9818
CP AC44CW 9712

Shot #6 - 11:22 a.m. (6:57)
A late (as usual) Amtrak 391 scurries down to Mattoon for its next station stop, giving a good "shave and a haircut" as it heads over the diamond.
Amtrak P42DC 22

Shot #7 - 12:18 p.m. (7:17)
CN M370 heads for the UP at Salem with a small auto train.
CN C44-9W 2614

Shot #8 - 12:38 p.m. (8:29)
CN M397 follows M370 south with a monster manifest.
CN SD75I 5758
CN C44-9W 2628

Shot #9 - 1:01 p.m. (10:23)
Ethanol train CSX K456 from ADM in Decatur, Illinois heads east towards Howell Yard (located in Hillsdale, Indiana) on the former B&O with a six-pack of CSX geeps. The geeps will be swapped at Hillsdale for 6-axle CSX power. This and counterpart train K453 are recently added trains to CSX's Decatur Sub.
CSX GP40-2 6390
CSX GP38-2 2745
CSX GP40-2 6115
CSX GP40-2 6353
CSX GP38-2 2741
CSX GP38-2 2751

Thanks for Watching!
©2011 IC1034 Productions

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• trains
• railroad
• railfan
• railfanning
• Tuscola IL
• Tuscola Illinois
• UP
• Union Pacific
• UP ZLDYC
• stack
• intermodal
• Z-Train
• UP MPRAS
• mixed manifest
• mixed freight
• UP OCHSJ
• crude oil train
• CN
• CN M336
• CN M370
• auto train
• CN M397
• CSX
• CSXT
• CSX Transportation
• CSX K456
• ethanol train
• CP
• Canadian Pacific
• Amtrak
• Amtrak 390
• Amtrak 391
• HiDef
• HD
• IC1034

[CSXyardmaster]

The CSX train was the K45609 Decatur to Hillsdale IN.

[IC1034]

Thanks! I appreciate the info on the ethanol train. I assume K457 is the westbound train ID from Hillsdale to Decatur?

[CSXyardmaster]

@IC1034 K453 is the empty westbound.

[IC1034]

Alright. Thanks again for the info on these ethanol trains. Good to see you guys at CSX are doing some more movements in and out of Decatur.

[CRSD60I]

Great job as always Lewis! Tuscola is a great place to railfan!

[IC1034]

Thanks, Doug! It sure is!

[IC1034]

Thanks, Jim! Hoping to shoot more in late July and August before I start college. :)

[calmarossian1913]

Lewis:  Glad your back shooting more videos, excellent work. Jim Bloomington Il

[IC1034]

Haha, awesome.

[MoPacBoy]

Haha I just caught BCOL 4654