Ask Peoria Station 4-4-18
Time for more Transportation Q & A!
Feel free to post your questions in the comments section on any transportation topic. If I don't have an answer, I'll find one.
Feel free to post your questions in the comments section on any transportation topic. If I don't have an answer, I'll find one.
- David P. Jordan
Hello:
ReplyDeleteI really like and appreciate your history on PIA. When you are finally done, can you please do a piece on the BAC-111s that flew for Britt, Air Illinois and Air Wisconsin in the 1980s? Thanks
Hi Bob,
DeleteI'll see what I can put together. I have good data on which routes those carriers deployed BAC-111s.
David, saw this today where Frontier is slowly coming back to some of the cities they pulled out of several years ago. Most are decent sized cities, would imagine BMI's chances are slim: https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/55f365ab-5093-3f0c-be11-24a8faf7e661/ss_frontier-airlines-adds-four.html
ReplyDeleteI saw they announced a return to Harrisburg, Pa. and Spokane, Wa. with new service to Portland, Me. and Syracuse, NY.
DeleteI too doubt Bloomington-Normal is on their radar. Lots of bigger cities to deploy the fleet.
David,
ReplyDeleteWhat is the UP Low Line that you mentioned in your March 10 post?
When did BN close its Peoria yard? How have BN and TP&W conducted carload interchange before and after its closure? Did they ever utilize the direct interchange in downtown Bushnell for this purpose?
Shawn
The Low Line is Union Pacific's direct connection from its Peoria Sub at Peoria Junction to Adams Street Yard in Peoria proper and the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad.
DeleteThe Chicago & North Western's Nelson-Peoria branch opened in January 1902. The affiliated Macoupin County Railway was established in 1904 to serve company-owned coal mines. The Chicago & Alton acted as a bridge line between the Macoupin County Railway at Girard and C&NW at Peoria (via P&PU). When C&NW became displeased with the C&A's service, it built a Peoria-Girard route, which opened in late 1913. At the time, the Southern Illinois Extension diverged from "Kickapoo Junction," where a tower was built to govern train movements.
A new classification yard was built south of Pekin to handle the new traffic. South Pekin was established as company town where most employees lived. Complete with a large roundhouse, the new yard rendered C&NW's own Peoria roundhouse superfluous and industrial switching in the vicinity of Adams Street Yard was turned over to the Peoria & Pekin Union Railway in early 1912 (per contract dated December 1, 1911, renewed in 1946 and lasting until February 1981).
With the mainline now running south of town, the Kickapoo Junction-Adams Street Yard-C&NW Junction (P&PU Connection) became more of a secondary route, though it did host a daily passenger train to and from Sterling until 1931. At some point, this segment was dubbed the "Low Line," because the mainline, which flew above Kickapoo Creek, passed through Bartonville and ran along the river on trestle or fill, was sort of a "High Line" in the area of the junction.
Regarding Burlington Northern's Peoria Yard, the last switch engine was abolished on August 5, 1983. Labor contracts allowed road crews to switch local industries if their work load did not exceed four hours. By 1983, BN served only a handful of regular customers (a few on occasion) and the only interchange was with P&PU.
ReplyDeleteThe way I understand it, Galesburg-Peoria manifests 104 (eastbound) and 105 (westbound) were actually handled by a weekday local called 13815. This train switched the yard and local industries until January 1, 1985 when trains 432 (eastbound) and 431 (westbound) were put on. By summer 1985, these had been abolished and replaced by 13814 (which was used into the BNSF era). It was about this time that BN began removing most of its yard and unused industry tracks at Peoria. A few more reductions are known to have taken place in 1989 or 1990. I remember some changes about 1994.
TP&W interchanged with CB&Q at Keokuk, Bushnell and Canton. Peoria interchange was via P&PU until 1928 when new president George P. McNear obtained trackage rights on the CB&Q (and Peoria Terminal Company) in place of P&PU to connect its Eastern and Western Divisions.
ReplyDeleteWhen TP&W was forced to remove its Illinois River Bridge from service following severe damage from a barge collision the morning of February 12, 1970, interchange was forced to move via P&PU again, though temporarily. TP&W trains began using P&PU rather than CB&Q/BN through Peoria on an emergency basis until a new agreement was worked out in July that year. TP&W and P&PU also worked out an arrangement allowing the former to resume direct interchange with CB&Q-successor BN and Rock Island in Peoria. The Interstate Commerce Commission approved the agreement on June 25, 1971.
Separately, BN worked out a trackage rights agreement with P&PU to resume direct interchange with TP&W at East Peoria. The ICC approved this on June 4, 1973. With this latest agreement, BN and TP&W began alternating transfer duties every six months.
Interchange between BN and TP&W declined rapidly in the early 1980s, and P&PU cancelled its 1973 trackage rights agreement with BN. Although a separate agreement gave TP&W the right to continue direct interchange at Peoria with BN, all interchange between the two carriers there was routed via P&PU effective, I believe, July 1, 1982.
Because of the decline in BN's Peoria service, it does appear that some interchange between the carriers was re-routed via Bushnell. It is unlikely that much interchange survived the Santa Fe era. After TP&W was reborn in early 1989, Bushnell became an interchange point for intermodal traffic handled for BN to and from the Hoosierlift near Remington, Indiana, which BN dubbed "Indiana Hub Center." Carload interchange between the two carriers was divided between Keokuk, Bushnell and Peoria (via P&PU). Canton interchange dried up as BN abolished the Galesburg-Canton local, 13813, by the late 1980s.
P&PU cancelled its 1973 trackage rights agreement with TP&W in 1993 (but continued using P&PU trackage to connect its East and West Ends). A new trackage rights agreement, dated 1995, apparently precluded direct BN-TP&W interchange in exchange for lower trackage rights charges. This agreement was modified in 2001 to allow TP&W to handle intermodal traffic between its East Peoria Yard and BNSF at Galesburg (using trackage rights on BNSF's Peoria Subdivision). BNSF and TP&W discontinued intermodal service in early 2004.
Now that TP&W and P&PU-lessor TZPR are under the same parent company, direct coal train interchange does take place, though I'd guess intermediate switching charges are still paid to TZPR. Carload interchange continues to be routed via TZPR.
Hitchcock Scrap still getting cars on a regular basis?
ReplyDeleteNot since the initial gondolas rseen there in February.
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