GT engines, shortline operations, and RARE trains in Decatur, IL!

In today's video we see a CWR train, lots of 86 foot boxcars, the last road-railer in the US, shortline operations, and two GT engines.
More footage of America's last road-railer
• Road-Railers and local...
• Crazy Catches at the B...

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Merch, anyone? okieprint.com/SPR/shop/home

[@delivered_srt4452]

I'm a conductor on this line. That Coal train heading into the yard is 404. It most likely is slowing down so that the conductor can line some switches to get into a certain track that the yard master instructed them to get into. Also the 2 Road railers left are 255 and 256.

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Oh ok, thank you for all the info.

[@wfvideos4099]

Wabic (where you were) is an excellent spot to see a lot of the action in Decatur. Too bad you missed CN A432 as that often has some pretty interesting power on it as well. The CSX yard you pointed out actually isn't a CSX yard anymore, rather it belongs to DREI. DREI came into existence in 2018 after parent company Watco purchased the Decatur Subdivision and yard (a former B&O line) from CSX. They also acquired CSX's former Danville Secondary line in the purchase, and a year later purchased the former Eastern Illinois Railroad Company. Excellent video!

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Thanks for the info! I didn’t know that DREI had actually bought the yard, because all the maps I looked at said it was still CSX. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@kens.3729]

I visited Decatur, IL, many years ago. My Dad was in the Service (Korean War) with Ned Freeman (Decatur) and Illinois Bow-Tie Politician, Sen. Paul Simon. 👍🙏

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Cool!

[@brianraupp8058]

Born and raised in Decatur. I was always fascinated by the trains which, quite literally, were all over town. If you go back be sure to check out all the rail action in the NS yard which you can look out over from the Staley Viaduct, and the area around ADM. They are always moving cars there over a labyrinth of tracks that I still can't figure out how they navigate.

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Ok, I’ll keep that in mind! Yeah, when I was looking at the railyard on google maps, some of the industrial spurs just look like a bowl of spaghetti, lol!

[@thelnner6765]

seeing grand trunks are uncommon, but usually with subs that run alot of locals youll see them more and more

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Ah ok, thank you for the info!

[@WIPEOUT_Trains]

The UP 86 footer had western pacific ID marks on it! That’s awesome!

[@williamburroughs2273]

Felt like I saw a ghost when I saw those GT units. The DT&I runs through our land in Western Ohio and I can barely remember seeing GT engines running up and down it back in the 80's and 90's.

[@thatcallisto]

Living next to one of CN’s larger yards in the midwest, feels like there’s always at least one old GT scuttling around somewhere. CN’s got a lot of ex-other-company units around, feel like I’ve only ever seen one repainted from its old livery.

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Interesting, I didn’t know fallen flags were that common on CN

[@AlikStansberry]

Was pretty fun to see those old GT Geeps! No idea how rare those are, but rare they are. The classic NS Dash 9 and C6Ms were also solid. Even the background cameo 40-2.

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed all the catches!

[@jerrysgardentractorsengine2243]

CN/GTW fan here. GTW units aren’t as common as they were in the 2000s seeing as most of them were retired following the IC merger, but there is still a good handful of them out there, mostly on the former Wisconsin Central

[@timothyrachford1868]

I catch the road railer when it passes through Springfield heading to and from Decatur

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Cool!

[@LewisMarien]

Excellent work. Like Brian said in the comments, I was born and raised in this town as well. Have since moved away, but always enjoy railfanning there at Wabic (or the Lake Decatur bridge east of town) when I come back for brief visits.

[@THEMAN67881]

I live in Michigan and i have CN power all the time and I only have seen the GT loco one time but there is an old GT bridge by my house that is still used today

[@redtrainproductions]

Late comment, but there’s usually GTWs in larger yards, or on locals around cities. I’m from southern Ontario, and we sometimes get a GTW on the locals around there. It would be more rare to see one in rural areas, But seeing 2 lashed up is really cool. Nice catches!

[@ollieck3545]

I caught one at the station just outside oof the Huntsville yard

[@brucejones7389]

I live near Barry, IL where that same NS line runs and I see the Triple Crown fly thru almost every day still

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

Spectacular catches and video. Like the commentary also. I ended up capturing the last two Triple Crown trains in the SE Wisconsin area about five or six years ago already. Thanks for sharing with all of us. Have a nice rest of your day.

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed! That’s super cool that you also got to see the last road-railers. You have a nice day as well.

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

@@Southern_Plains_Railfan Your very welcome. I didn't like to see them go. Thank you also.

[@SpringfieldAndWestern]

Super interesting video - many thanks for sharing!

[@wildbill9919]

l like your videos because they have narration. Most KZbinr railfans don't have narration in their videos.

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Thank you! Yeah I've noticed that too, I feel like a lot of information is left out without the narration.

[@RDC2003]

I caught a N&W cement car a little while ago

[@calebvalder6855]

Are the road rail trains really that rare? I used to see the triple crown trailers in the Minneapolis area all the time. But some time in the last ten years I quit seeing them I guess.

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Yes, NS 225 and 226 are the only ones left. I remember seeing road railers more often, too, but I guess piggyback trailers and intermodal containers have all but phased them out.