Norfolk Southern's Decatur District
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 6:31 pm
The Decatur District is Norfolk Southern's ex-NKP line between East Peoria and Decatur, Illinois. Until the late 1970's, the line ran all the way to Effingham, IL, but the Decatur-Effingham portion was deemed surplus and removed. Once a fairly busy mainline, traffic has dwindled throughout the years since the N&W/Southern merger. The only real reason the line has survived is due to it's strong online traffic base, and direct route from Peoria to Decatur. A pair of turns, one based in East Peoria and one in Decatur, work the line from each end and swap cars with each other in Millville. Millville is also where the line crosses the WI&I's Joliet to St. Louis mainline. The two roads interchange cars here every day.
Up until the early 1980's, the line was CTC with NKP era signals. Over the years, NS has removed all of the intermediates along the line, but out-of-service bracket masts remain at a few locations. The diamonds at Millville and Rayburn retain their signals and distant signals. Between Decatur and Millville, there are three sidings in service, and one out of service. North (railroad west) of Millville, there are two active sidings and one out of service. Below is a milepost list of sidings, switches and industries.
--BEGIN NS DECATUR DISTRICT--
PE 65.6 - Connection to Lafayette District
PE 65.9 - Switch to Decatur Industrial Track
PE 66.2 - E.E. Varnes Siding
PE 67.7 - W.E. Varnes Siding
PE 71.3 - East Switch to ADM Elevator (O/S)
PE 71.9 - West Switch to ADM Elevator
PE 75.6 - Switch to G&C Warehouse
PE 79.2 - E.E. Halter Siding
PE 80.6 - W.E. Halter Siding
PE 80.9 - Switch to Halter Elevator Track
PE 83.4 - Switch to Pioneer Forge
PE 83.7 - Downtown Pioneer
PE 85.5 - Janestown Defect Detector
PE 88.7 - Switch to Vriesland Transload
PE 91.4 - Switch to POET Ethanol Rayburn, IL Plant
PE 91.9 - Rayburn Diamond (R&W RR Connection)
PE 92.3 - E.E. Rayburn Siding
PE 93.1 - W.E. Rayburn Siding
PE 96.9 - Switch to H&K Commercial
PE 101.2 - E.E. Arlen Siding (O/S)
PE 102.5 - W.E. Arlen Siding
PE 103.6 - Switch to Millville Industrial Track
PE 103.9 - Millville Diamond (WI&I RY Connection)
PE 103.9 - E.E. Millville Siding
PE 105.3 - W.E. Millville Siding
PE 105.5 - Switch to Proctor & Gamble
PE 105.7 - Switch to Marathon Refinery
PE 108.3 - Switch to Wallace Chemical
PE 110.4 - Gerald Defect Detector
PE 113.7 - Switch to Cloverleaf Cold Storage
PE 119.6 - E.E. Dekan Siding (O/S)
PE 120.7 - W.E. Dekan Siding (O/S)
PE 124.1 - Switch to Dow Chemical Luckey, IL Plant
PE 124.7 - Switch to Luckey Elevator Track
PE 127.3 - Switch to ADM Luckey Plant
PE 130.2 - Switch to TZPR Snake Track (O/S)
PE 131.4 - E.E. Everett Siding
PE 132.7 - W.E. Everett Siding
PE 133.9 - Switch to Bryers Industrial Park
PE 134.7 - Connection to NS Peoria Track
--END NS DECATUR DISTRICT--
The two turns that work the line are L78 (East Peoria-Millville) and L79 (Decatur-Millville). On most days, L78 will come east out of Peoria around 09:00, while L79 leaves Decatur anywhere from 16:00 to 19:00. Both jobs are Monday-Saturday. If needed, the trains will run on Sunday as L7D and L7R. For the last few years, NS has assigned units to each job, and they are the normal power unless down for their 92-day inspections. NS 3280 and NS 3278 have been assigned to L78, while NS 3229 and NS 3255 have been assigned to L79. All four units are high-hood SD40-2's. Any extra power is borrowed from the yards in Decatur or East Peoria.
Up until the early 1980's, the line was CTC with NKP era signals. Over the years, NS has removed all of the intermediates along the line, but out-of-service bracket masts remain at a few locations. The diamonds at Millville and Rayburn retain their signals and distant signals. Between Decatur and Millville, there are three sidings in service, and one out of service. North (railroad west) of Millville, there are two active sidings and one out of service. Below is a milepost list of sidings, switches and industries.
--BEGIN NS DECATUR DISTRICT--
PE 65.6 - Connection to Lafayette District
PE 65.9 - Switch to Decatur Industrial Track
PE 66.2 - E.E. Varnes Siding
PE 67.7 - W.E. Varnes Siding
PE 71.3 - East Switch to ADM Elevator (O/S)
PE 71.9 - West Switch to ADM Elevator
PE 75.6 - Switch to G&C Warehouse
PE 79.2 - E.E. Halter Siding
PE 80.6 - W.E. Halter Siding
PE 80.9 - Switch to Halter Elevator Track
PE 83.4 - Switch to Pioneer Forge
PE 83.7 - Downtown Pioneer
PE 85.5 - Janestown Defect Detector
PE 88.7 - Switch to Vriesland Transload
PE 91.4 - Switch to POET Ethanol Rayburn, IL Plant
PE 91.9 - Rayburn Diamond (R&W RR Connection)
PE 92.3 - E.E. Rayburn Siding
PE 93.1 - W.E. Rayburn Siding
PE 96.9 - Switch to H&K Commercial
PE 101.2 - E.E. Arlen Siding (O/S)
PE 102.5 - W.E. Arlen Siding
PE 103.6 - Switch to Millville Industrial Track
PE 103.9 - Millville Diamond (WI&I RY Connection)
PE 103.9 - E.E. Millville Siding
PE 105.3 - W.E. Millville Siding
PE 105.5 - Switch to Proctor & Gamble
PE 105.7 - Switch to Marathon Refinery
PE 108.3 - Switch to Wallace Chemical
PE 110.4 - Gerald Defect Detector
PE 113.7 - Switch to Cloverleaf Cold Storage
PE 119.6 - E.E. Dekan Siding (O/S)
PE 120.7 - W.E. Dekan Siding (O/S)
PE 124.1 - Switch to Dow Chemical Luckey, IL Plant
PE 124.7 - Switch to Luckey Elevator Track
PE 127.3 - Switch to ADM Luckey Plant
PE 130.2 - Switch to TZPR Snake Track (O/S)
PE 131.4 - E.E. Everett Siding
PE 132.7 - W.E. Everett Siding
PE 133.9 - Switch to Bryers Industrial Park
PE 134.7 - Connection to NS Peoria Track
--END NS DECATUR DISTRICT--
The two turns that work the line are L78 (East Peoria-Millville) and L79 (Decatur-Millville). On most days, L78 will come east out of Peoria around 09:00, while L79 leaves Decatur anywhere from 16:00 to 19:00. Both jobs are Monday-Saturday. If needed, the trains will run on Sunday as L7D and L7R. For the last few years, NS has assigned units to each job, and they are the normal power unless down for their 92-day inspections. NS 3280 and NS 3278 have been assigned to L78, while NS 3229 and NS 3255 have been assigned to L79. All four units are high-hood SD40-2's. Any extra power is borrowed from the yards in Decatur or East Peoria.