GP15-1 Diesel on Iowa Southern Freight Train, Moravia, IA 11/27/23

After seeing CPKC's Holiday Train heading south from Ottumwa to Moravia, Iowa on November 27th, 2023, I headed home via Highway 5, following the Iowa Southern Railway towards Albia. Being a Monday, I hoped to catch a movement on the ISRY. Just as the tracks left the highway, I looked off in the distance and saw what looked like a headlight in the distance. Sure enough, by the time I turned off and got on the old Highway 5 alignment to make sure, I could see that it was indeed a southbound train! At this point the train was powered by CBFX 1595, an SW1500 that's been on the railroad for several years now, pulling a healthy cut of covered hoppers, tank cars, and gondolas.

When I arrived at the W. North Street crossing in Moravia, I found that another train was already in town with some more covered hopper cars. This train was powered by ILSX 1404, a GP15-1 locomotive I've never seen on the railroad before. Doing some searches on the internet, it appears this engine arrived on the property within the past month or so. Whether it's here for good or just temporarily will be known as time goes on. 1404's heritage is obvious as it's still painted for its previous owner, Union Pacific, and the stripes on the front and back indicate it was a unit that carried "UPY" reporting marks.

Once the southbound freight I saw earlier arrived in Moravia, 1404 and its consist reversed to be combined with 1595's train. Then the two locomotives pulled forward, and made several switching back-up moves to set out some tank cars on the propane transload siding. Their moves complete, the train finally continues south, as shown in this video. The train is passing the former Wabash depot in Moravia, which is now a museum. I kind of hoped they'd have 1404 leading, but it's still a very interesting lash up to say the least! As expected, both locomotives were online and working to pull this consist out of town. It's definitely one of the longest ISRY trains I've seen over the years, and features a mix of covered hoppers for hauling grain and plastic pellets, along with many gondolas filled with wire coils, all bound for the end of the line in Centerville, Iowa.

To see a complete summary of operations on the Iowa Southern, check out my video "Exploring the Iowa Southern" from 2017, featuring many trains and switching from Albia all the way to Centerville:    • Exploring the Iowa Southern: Shortline Rai...  

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