In the Hole at South Tolono

A crew member of a southbound Canadian National manifest freight is on the ground to give a roll by inspection to a northbound at South Tolono on the Champaign Subdivision.

During the days when Illinois Central removed the double track in favor of centralized traffic control and passing sidings every so many miles, the control points were named north and south after the nearest city or town. CN has retained the former IC control point names.

Hence South Tolono refers to Tolono, Illinois, where the IC crossed the Wabash line from Detroit. The ex-Wabash is now the Lafayette District of Norfolk Southern.

There Was Still Some Fall Color

I wasn’t expecting to find any colorful fall foliage when I set out in mid November to chase trains on the Champaign Subdivision of Canadian National in east central Illinois.

So I was pleasantly surprised to find some maple trees still showing off their October best.

Better yet they formed a line of fall foliage along the former Illinois Central mainline.

Shown above is a southbound grain train passing through Pesotum, Illinois.