Galesburg...a railfan hotspot and a must!
I have known about Galesburg being a hot spot for train activity for quite a
while now having mom drive me around as a kid in the 90's and finding trains
to watch. I wish i photographed them back then during the BN and ATSF merger
that was going on around that time. Oh well you can't change the past and then
again I wasn't aware of such things back in the day. It was only later I'd start
learning this stuff and the history between certain railroads. Out of all places I
have railfanned Galesburg has always been my favorite due to having multiple
active lines and a railyard and having an Amtrak station doesn't hurt either. I
used to just travel up here once a month or so to take pictures and watch trains
but in 2018 we moved up here on the edge of Galesburg and Knoxville. I live like
two or three miles down the road (Highway 10) from the yard and the Peoria sub
runs in front of my joint so that's pretty cool especially since they run night trains
sometimes. I miss hearing them. My previous town of Canton hasn't seen a night
train after ten probably since the late 1990's in it's TP&W days.
There are various lines you can choose here in Galesburg such as the Barstow sub,
the busy Chillicothe sub, Mendota sub, Peoria sub, Brookfield sub and the Ottumwa
sub. The Chillicothe and Mendota sees the most action but the others get their fair
share as well. There's railfan Peck park in Galesburg you can try your hand at or
you can go take pictures off the Highway ten bridge of the railyard. You can take
pictures around the Amtrak station if you're careful and don't do anything stupid.
There are spots around Cedar, Academy and Louisville road to capture Ottumwa
sub action. There is quite a few spots along Broad and water street to park and
catch some Chillicothe sub plus other areas to fan that line in and outside of Galesburg,
East Galesburg and rural Knoxville and Appleton areas. The Mendota sub has some
areas and you can find spots in Wataga too. The Brookfield sub you can go down to the
Lake Bracken road and film at the crossing. The bridge at Highway 41 overlooking the
Ottumwa sub also a good spot but watch for cars passing. A crossing outside to the west
of Galesburg on Highway ten is a cool Ottumwa spot as well. There's plenty of areas and
active lines to choose from. The Chillicothe sub offers mainly stack trains but you can get
others at times. The Mendota sees quite a bit of Manifests as well as others. The Peoria sub
is mainly coal and coal empties but sees manifests from time to time. The Barstow can vary
from all types. The Brookfield sees Manifests and coal but others from time to time. Amtrak
comes from the Ottumwa, Brookfield and Mendota subs on top of that.
Once in a blue moon a special train like Military, wind turbine trains and other odd trains
can make it's way through. If you want variety in power the yard is the best place to watch
out for random stuff in either leased locomotives, locomotives from other railroads and
different types of locomotives and switchers. If you're lucky you can catch an A-B-A line
up in the yard and I even seen one once on the Industrial connector track. Galesburg also
have an old Baldwin steam locomotive #3003 CB&Q on display as well as some cars and a
Caboose next to the Galesburg Railroad Museum and the Amtrak Station. One of these days
will go to the museum if i can suck up enough bravery and not have a social anxiety day to go
to it or briber some sucker into going with me. Ha. Good luck with that with my husband or
mom they think this hobby is stupid and boring. I've yet to go to the Wheels of time museum
in Peoria....yeah my anxiety issues is a major issue. This is not about that but one of these days
will go to both. From time to time you see other railfans here. It is also to be noted Galesburg
has it's railroad days every June. I went to my first one this year thankfully a friend went with me. I appriciate that by the way or i would have only went to the locomotive display and left.
There's a decent sized train show there that was fun and interesting. The locomotive on display
was cool to tour. I guess i probably could have went to the museum that day had i thought about it. My health was embarrassing though. I don't think I'll live that one down feeling
like a freakshow. No one was rude i'm just the biggest critic of myself due to breathing
problems, the trach and such. I can understand why no one wants to be seen with me....rofl.
Sarcasm by the way. I couldn't get my husband to go with me to one of these things if I paid
him a million dollars but whatever. I do recommend Railroad Days though. It's not as what
it used to be i hear but it was still fun. Living here probably go to more of them depending
on health and anxiety levels so it's a must if you want to do something fun in Galesburg.
I know it's been ages since i made a blog post just haven't felt like it but here are alot of
pictures that might convince railfans to give Galesburg a shot. It really is a cool place to
visit anytime of the year. The photo's demonstrate the kind of stuff you could see if you
spend a day or more here. Enjoy. :)
Galesburg Railroad Days June 23, 2018:
while now having mom drive me around as a kid in the 90's and finding trains
to watch. I wish i photographed them back then during the BN and ATSF merger
that was going on around that time. Oh well you can't change the past and then
again I wasn't aware of such things back in the day. It was only later I'd start
learning this stuff and the history between certain railroads. Out of all places I
have railfanned Galesburg has always been my favorite due to having multiple
active lines and a railyard and having an Amtrak station doesn't hurt either. I
used to just travel up here once a month or so to take pictures and watch trains
but in 2018 we moved up here on the edge of Galesburg and Knoxville. I live like
two or three miles down the road (Highway 10) from the yard and the Peoria sub
runs in front of my joint so that's pretty cool especially since they run night trains
sometimes. I miss hearing them. My previous town of Canton hasn't seen a night
train after ten probably since the late 1990's in it's TP&W days.
There are various lines you can choose here in Galesburg such as the Barstow sub,
the busy Chillicothe sub, Mendota sub, Peoria sub, Brookfield sub and the Ottumwa
sub. The Chillicothe and Mendota sees the most action but the others get their fair
share as well. There's railfan Peck park in Galesburg you can try your hand at or
you can go take pictures off the Highway ten bridge of the railyard. You can take
pictures around the Amtrak station if you're careful and don't do anything stupid.
There are spots around Cedar, Academy and Louisville road to capture Ottumwa
sub action. There is quite a few spots along Broad and water street to park and
catch some Chillicothe sub plus other areas to fan that line in and outside of Galesburg,
East Galesburg and rural Knoxville and Appleton areas. The Mendota sub has some
areas and you can find spots in Wataga too. The Brookfield sub you can go down to the
Lake Bracken road and film at the crossing. The bridge at Highway 41 overlooking the
Ottumwa sub also a good spot but watch for cars passing. A crossing outside to the west
of Galesburg on Highway ten is a cool Ottumwa spot as well. There's plenty of areas and
active lines to choose from. The Chillicothe sub offers mainly stack trains but you can get
others at times. The Mendota sees quite a bit of Manifests as well as others. The Peoria sub
is mainly coal and coal empties but sees manifests from time to time. The Barstow can vary
from all types. The Brookfield sees Manifests and coal but others from time to time. Amtrak
comes from the Ottumwa, Brookfield and Mendota subs on top of that.
Once in a blue moon a special train like Military, wind turbine trains and other odd trains
can make it's way through. If you want variety in power the yard is the best place to watch
out for random stuff in either leased locomotives, locomotives from other railroads and
different types of locomotives and switchers. If you're lucky you can catch an A-B-A line
up in the yard and I even seen one once on the Industrial connector track. Galesburg also
have an old Baldwin steam locomotive #3003 CB&Q on display as well as some cars and a
Caboose next to the Galesburg Railroad Museum and the Amtrak Station. One of these days
will go to the museum if i can suck up enough bravery and not have a social anxiety day to go
to it or briber some sucker into going with me. Ha. Good luck with that with my husband or
mom they think this hobby is stupid and boring. I've yet to go to the Wheels of time museum
in Peoria....yeah my anxiety issues is a major issue. This is not about that but one of these days
will go to both. From time to time you see other railfans here. It is also to be noted Galesburg
has it's railroad days every June. I went to my first one this year thankfully a friend went with me. I appriciate that by the way or i would have only went to the locomotive display and left.
There's a decent sized train show there that was fun and interesting. The locomotive on display
was cool to tour. I guess i probably could have went to the museum that day had i thought about it. My health was embarrassing though. I don't think I'll live that one down feeling
like a freakshow. No one was rude i'm just the biggest critic of myself due to breathing
problems, the trach and such. I can understand why no one wants to be seen with me....rofl.
Sarcasm by the way. I couldn't get my husband to go with me to one of these things if I paid
him a million dollars but whatever. I do recommend Railroad Days though. It's not as what
it used to be i hear but it was still fun. Living here probably go to more of them depending
on health and anxiety levels so it's a must if you want to do something fun in Galesburg.
I know it's been ages since i made a blog post just haven't felt like it but here are alot of
pictures that might convince railfans to give Galesburg a shot. It really is a cool place to
visit anytime of the year. The photo's demonstrate the kind of stuff you could see if you
spend a day or more here. Enjoy. :)
Galesburg Railroad Days June 23, 2018:
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