A little railfanning BNSF and CPKC Savanna, IL June 7, 2025

A couple weeks prior to this June 7th, 2025 trip, I caught wind that an Iowa Northern unit was working Canadian Nationals local around Freeport/Rockford, IL. Since I have managed to miss the IANR all of these years, I set out to see if I could catch the unit in action. I found it tied down at Wallace Yard in Freeport and with no signs of activity, decided I’d venture a little further. I headed to the CPKC’s former Milwaukee Road main line across northern IL with hopes of catching an eastbound in the Lanark area. Not only did I not catch it, I later learned I missed it and it had several freshly rebuilt units in new CPKC paint. Ahh well, in a few years that paint scheme will wear off just like NW black dip did. I worked my way to Savanna where BNSF did not disappoint. I was immediately greeted to a westbound grain empty that I had to head out the north end of town to catch. I then headed back into Savanna just north of the CPKC and hit into position to duplicate a shot I took back on Aug 12th, 1986. Eventually an eastbound train of empty CAIX coal hoppers came by. I was able to show a comparison of my 1986 shot - the great floods of 1992 damaged a lot of smaller buildings just across the tracks and they got replaced. The grain elevator in the distance remains with new handling equipment, the roofline of a brick building with its chimney remains just to the right of the lead unit and the power lines on the left were removed completely. This is why I always encourage people to get the shot, no matter how mundane. After the coal empties, CPKC’s yard local took the diamond to make a few moves. I only included one long pull they made. Lots of those scrap gons from Behr and WSOR have started in my videos of the Beloit locals I more frequently post. Leaving town I caught an eastbound intermodal on BNSF about to make its left turn at Plum River. Thanks also to fellow YouTuber MidWestRailFan-1z2eq for a heads up on that one. Finally, a tribute to the fallen flag that got me out of the house and out of town for a change. I hope you enjoyed a quick run to Savanna! Thanks for watching! Andy