Canton,IL BNSF line - Trains Magazine
The BNSF's Yates City - Vermont (IL) line lost all of its business in the 1980's save for one customer - CILCO's Duck Creek Station, which opened in 1976. Coal trains coming out of Crown Two Mine near Virden (IL) used the Vermont - Dunfermline segment to reach Duck Creek for 30 years. In 2005, AmerenCILCO constructed a spur to the KJRY (former TP&W) and early the following year began purchasing coal from a mine served by the Union Pacific. Due to this switch, BNSF had no business left on its branchline. The last known BNSF train to operate through Farmington and Canton was in 1999. A couple of people tell me they saw a BNSF C44-9W pull a string of empty autoracks through town. In spring 2000, BNSF removed the TP&W crossing at Canton, such a movement has been impossible since that time.
In August 2006, BNSF and KJRY announced a lease/haulage deal in which shortline KJRY would handle BNSF traffic between Farmington and Dunfermline for a flat per car fee. Apparently, BNSF sought to maintain access to the Duck Creek power plant in case they regained the contract, but they had little interest in providing service to the then-Central Illinois Energy Co-Op ethanol plant that was being built on the Duck Creek plant spur. The deal was opposed by AmerenCILCO, claiming that competitive access gained when they constructed a connection to the KJRY would be wiped out if the same railroad provided service on the other line. The accusation was ridiculous since KJRY possesed limited pricing power, but the STB sided with the utility.
This spring, it was made public that BNSF and KJRY are negotiating a new deal which would have KJRY lease or purchase the Farmington - Dunfermline segment so they could serve Riverland BioFuels, Hitchcock Scrap Yard, Spoon River Blacktop and Farmington Recycling. The deal, like the previous one, is subject to STB approval, but with no opposition could be approved rather quickly. One would think a deal would happen soon as Riverland BioFuels is planning to start operations in September.
As for the line from Peoria through Farmington, this was once the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway's mainline from Minneapolis. The M&StL was acquired by the Chicago & North Western in late 1960, after which most through traffic was diverted to the latter's mainlines. The C&NW dropped the line's through freights in spring 1968 and abandoned the line west of Middle Grove in segments between 1971 and 1976. The Elm and Rapatee Mines quit using rail in 1984 and 1986, respectively, and C&NW filed for abandonment in 1987.
Both the BN and C&NW had interest in serving the Spoon Ridge Landfill at Fairview after it began operation in 1992. Both would have had to construct new lines to reach it but the landfill closed in 1998 and interest has waned.
The Union Pacific, which acquired the C&NW in 1995, had interest in reactivating the line but just last month placed the line up for abandonment. The good news is that the Keokuk Junction Railway is seeking to acquire and operate the line. The outcome is not guaranteed but for the first time in more than a decade, there is the possibility of the line's reactivation, notwithstanding the lack of connections with the nation's rail system (the connection to UP's mainline at Peoria was removed in 2001).
