From the yard on the southeast side of the line at Clinton (MP 138.9), in Yard Limits, where a joint BNSF/CP line trails in on the southeast side, the line heads northeast, Double Track (current-of-traffic), Automatic Block Signals, Automatic Train Control, speed limit 60 mph (but local speed restriction 30 mph), past the former C&NW Shops on the northwest side, the junction and crossing with the former Milwaukee Road, continuing northeast at Fifth Street (MP 137.1), where the former C&NW turns east, across the bridge over the Mississippi River, from Iowa into Illinois, at MP 136.7, turning east-northeast at East Clinton (MP 135.9), where the local speed restriction rises to 40 mph, an erstwhile Milwaukee Road line once crossed, and an erstwhile CB&Q line once headed southeast, past MP 135.3, where full line speeds prevail, MP 135.0, where Yard Limits end, a location where an erstwhile branch from Fulton once trailed in from the west on the north side and the former CB&Q Galesburg-Savanna line passes overhead on a bridge.
The line turns south-southeast, past detectors at MP 127.9 and Union Grove (MP 127.6), east-southeast past Morrison (MP 123.8) and Round Grove (MP 118.6), just north of due east to Agnew (MP 114.8), and east past MP 114.0, where Yard Limits start, detectors at MP 113.2, Galt (MP 113.0), the west end of a yard on the south side, Sterling (MP 109.5), east end of that yard, where there is a 50 mph speed restriction for non-TOFC freight and the line turns just north of due east, past MP 109.0, where Yard Limits end, then just south of due east, and east again, bridging over the Rock River, to crossovers at NJ (MP 105.1), where a controlled siding on the south side starts, the westbound track becomes CTC, and there used to be a tower, and the wye junction on the south side with the former C&NW line to Peoria, at Nelson (MP 104.3), where the eastbound track also becomes CTC.