Countdown to Steam Weekend!

One week away!

Those who bought tickets in time for the Iowa Interstate Railroad's Chillicothe-Henry excursions May 18, will be first to experience a ride behind steam on this line in 57 years.

We know this fact because the Peoria Morning Star ran a story March 5, 1952 with the headline, All Diesel Power Passenger Trains On R. I. This Month. Delivery of six EMD E-8A passenger diesels enabled the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad to retire steam passenger power which then pulled Nos. 9 and 230, the nightly locals between Peoria and Chicago.

The locomotive believed to have pulled the last steam-powered passenger train on the Rock Island's Peoria-Bureau line was 4-6-2 No. 886. In 1956, the Peoria Jaycees asked the Rock Island to donate this locomotive to Peoria for public display. After it was learned that 886 had been scrapped, sister 887 was renumbered "886" and substituted as a gift to the Peoria group.

"New 886" moved to Peoria on a freight train in late June 1956 and arrived Glen Oak Park on July 5. Vandalism and neglect quickly took its toll and the Jaycees sold the engine to Luria Brothers & Company for scrap in September 1962. Local groups began a fundraiser to prevent its destruction and to fund repairs. The Rock Island estimated $5,600 would pay for repairs in its shops.

Sufficient funds were raised and New 886 moved to the Rock Island's local shops in November 1962. After repairs, New 886 moved to downtown Peoria for display in May 1963. In October that year, the engine was moved to a new display site at Detweiller Park. In April 1985, it was moved to its present home, the Wheels O' Time Museum, off Rt. 40 in north Peoria. I recorded the scene below on October 15, 2017.


One steam locomotive has traversed the old Rock Island Peoria-Bureau line since 1952. The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society's Nickel Plate 765 deadheaded to and from Train Festival in Rock Island, Illinois in 2011. On July 20 that year, it ran on what was by then the Iowa Interstate Railroad from Peoria to Rock Island. Four days later, it returned east over the same route. 



But no paying passengers rode behind Fort Wayne's engine. So history will be made May 18, 2019 when ticketholders can ride behind Iowa Interstate 6988 from Chillicothe to Henry and return. See you there!

NOTE: IAIS 6988 is also pulling excursions from Annawan to Geneseo and return, on Sunday, May 19, 2019. 

- David P. Jordan

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