At the train watching platform in Rochelle, Illinois, a scanner is perpetually broadcasting railroad radio chatter.

On our brief visit there a couple of weeks back, Kris and I overheard BNSF’s dispatcher discussing with unknown parties the status of an eastward unit tank train tied down near Steward.

Armed with this knowledge we drove railroad east through the sprawing industry and cornfields toward Steward, where we found the afforementioned freight. It was crew-less and its headlight extinguished.

I made these photos with my Nikon Z6 and 70-200mm Nikkor zoom lens.

Tracking the Light Looks at Illinois!