This former Peoria & Eastern (ex-New York Central) line was formerly used for grain hauling, as evidenced by the many elevators along the abandoned route. Though out of service, rails remain on the ground at Hillery Yard in Danville. Shortly west of Danville, all rails have been removed but ballast remains, the ROW is clearly visible and a number of bridges are still in place.
Some remaining rails are still visible and isolated in the city of Urbana.
In Farmer City, the crossing diamond with the still-active CSX (nee-IC) line has been removed. The abandoned tracks are still in place between Danville and Bloomington, as Norfolk Southern has railbanked a majority of the line. The tri-light signals, favored by NYC in this area, are still in place on both sides of the crossing.
From Mahomet, traveling west, to beyond Farmer City, all rails remain on the ground.
Two short segments of the line remain in-use to feed grain cars to crossing active railroads. These are at the towns of Mansfield and Farmer City.
A signal still burns yellow on the abandoned line just east of Mansfield. Red signals burn at Mansfield to protect the active crossing line where short pieces of the abandoned P&E are used to bring grain out to that line.
See also The Danville Secondary.
Thanks to Jeremy Harris for contributing information about this route.