On a crisp, clear autumn afternoon, the southbound Powerton loads (UP CNAPW 28) eases past the large Akron Services Inc grain elevator south of Edelstein on the single tracked ex-C&NW Peoria Subdivision. This near 19,000 ton coal train from Wyoming's North Antelope Mine in the Powder River Basin is headed for NRG Energy's Powerton Power Plant, a coal-fired generating station situated along the Illinois River south of Pekin, IL. Just like this one, these Powerton trains run with a mix of mostly CWEX (Commonwealth Edison Co.) and MILX (General Electric Rail Services Corp.) marked coal cars with a few TGNX (NRG Power Marketing LLC) ones thrown in. As you can tell, the harvest season has officially begun and this field of corn is no exception.
