The Joliet to Bloomington local sits in the siding awaiting its meet with Amtrak 312. The conductor complete with cowboy hat looks on into the setting winter sun. ... (more)

CHPBM (Chicago-Pine Pluff Manifest) rolls southward through Towanda IL on this typical midwest winter day.

8002 and sister unit hustle CHASM (Chicago-Alton and Southern Manifest) through the cut at Shirley IL.

Union Pacific train M ASBN conductor walks ahead of the stopped train in order to flag a highway crossing at the north end of the siding at McLean, Illinois on another typical spring day in Illino... (more)

Union Pacific train M BNAS (BLOOMINGTON-ALTON SOUTHERN) rolls along Old US Highway 66 at Shirley, Illinois on a fantastic spring Saturday, April 4, 2009. STEVE SMEDLEY PHOTO

Union Pacific train M BNAS (BLOOMINGTON-ALTON SOUTHERN) sports the Mopac and Chicago & Northwestern Heritage units as crew pulls south awaiting a signal at Bloomington, Illinois on a fantastic spr... (more)

Union Pacific train M BNAS (BLOOMINGTON-ALTON SOUTHERN) sports the Mopac and Chicago & Northwestern Heritage units as the train rolls south at Williamsvile, Illinois on a fantastic spring Saturd... (more)

Union Pacific train M BNAS (BLOOMINGTON-ALTON SOUTHERN) sports the Mopac and Chicago & Northwestern Heritage units as the train rolls south along old US Highway 66 at Elkhart, Illinois on a fantas... (more)

A CSXT AC4400CW, leads Union Pacific train M BNAS (Bloomington - Alton Southern) through Atlanta, Illinois on a brisk Saturday afternoon, Oct 25, 2008. STEVE SMEDLEY PHOTO

A short South Local rolls North at Shirley, Illinois in between Amtrak trains Friday morning. STEVE SMEDLEY PHOTO

Union Pacific Railroad southbound freight M BNAS (Bloomington - Alton Southern) runs over the ex-GM&O at Ridgely Tower in Springfield, Illinois. The tower operator is outside to give the train a ... (more)

An unpatched and a little worse for the wear Southern Pacific SD45 R leads three other UP six axles and a short MBNAS south out of Bloomington, Illinois on Thursday November 29, 2007. STEVE SMEDL... (more)

Amtrak train 303, the Ann Rutledge, gets a highball from the conductor of train 22, The Texas Eagle, as they perform a Market Street meet in Bloomington Tuesday morning. STEVE SMEDLEY PHOTO

Union Pacific's South Local, with a 25 year old former Rio Grande GP40 on the point, blasts away from its work on the Havana District and Lincoln, Illinois. STEVE SMEDLEY PHOTO

Union Pacific Railroad South Local has a rare former Kennecott Copper GP39-2 on the point, as it passes the former BNSF GP7 owned by Elkhart Grain Company, on Tuesday morning Oct. 2, 2007. The 120... (more)