I left for church early today so I could check out if Iowa Interstate train PESI was getting close to departure. I missed SIPE's arrive with three Norfolk Southern geeps, but found IAIS power with the PESI crew aboard running through the TZPR's East Peoria Yard.
They planned to pulled those three NS geeps across W. Washington Street then shove them along the Nickel Plate and leave them on the Creve Coeur Team Track. But they were instructed to wait for a TP&W local enroute back to East Peoria.
I got gas up in Creve Coeur and came back to find the TP&W train running on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Nickel Plate Division, and two IAIS and three NS geeps waiting at W. Washington Street. I parked with just a few minutes to spare before TPW 3440, HESR 3485 and TPW 5010 rolled by with 33 grain empties from ADM South Yard.
Moments after the TP&W local cleared, Iowa Interstate PESI's crew with IAIS 711 and 703 and three Norfolk Southern geeps (5317-5077-5174) moved across the street, waited for the signal then took the Nickel Plate to the other end of the yard, and ultimately the team track.You ask, "what's with those Norfolk Southern geeps on an Iowa Interstate train?"
Well, Norfolk Southern abandoned its own route into Des Moines in 1992 in favor of a haulage agreement with Burlington Northern between St. Louis/Hannibal and Des Moines. A decade or so ago, BNSF made service to Des Moines much less of a priority. So for some traffic, NS has employed the Iowa Interstate as haulage agent between Des Moines and Peoria. This includes locomotives assigned to work NS customers and interchanges in the Iowa capital.
By early afternoon, PESI (Peoria IL to Silvis IL) is shown rolling by the old San Koty Station area a few miles out of Peoria. IAIS 711 and IAIS 703 have 59 cars. I hard the crew say "55 empties" so I figure four loads were scattered throughout the train. The NS coil steel load is the obvious one.
Last Friday evening, Union Pacific ran an MMCPR (Manifest, Mason City IA to Proviso IL) down the Peoria Subdivision. It ran an MMTPR (Manifest, Marshalltown IA to Proviso IL) last evening and another MMCPR this Friday evening. All three were enroute to the Alton & Southern Railway's Gateway Yard in East St. Louis, which is probably where these trains' traffic ends up anyway. I caught the latter two, and just after sunset managed to capture video of the latest MMCPR rolling under BNSF's Mendota Sub near Buda. UP motors 5374-5812-2475-5494-6792-5868 had 75 cars of agricultural traffic. Train stopped briefly for dispatcher radio chatter then resumed its journey. MPECL waited at Edelstein Siding for MMCPR's passage. Word is that Union Pacific is experiencing a traffic meltdown at Proviso Yard (near Chicago), and is detouring or re-routing many trains to unplug the mess. I doubt the problem is anywhere close to being solved so expect more such ...
Rising air fares and reduced jet service plagued PIA in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Despite some moderate success in its efforts to convince carriers to cut fares and increase service, nothing could prevent the blow Peoria received in mid-January 1991. Let's review events by airline. My primary source is the North American Edition of OAG's July 15, 1991 Desktop Flight Guide . AMERICAN AIRLINES/AMERICAN EAGLE (Simmons Airlines/Flagship Airlines) Although it added (resumed, technically, after 29 years) Peoria to its network late in 1991, news preceding American Airlines' re-introduction of Chicago jet service rated much media coverage throughout the year. A March 15 Peoria Journal Star story indicated that service could begin in August. Progress came on May 8 when the Federal Aviation Administration proposed modification of the High Density Rule to allow for jet aircraft of up to 110 sets to use slots designated for commuter flights. The rule change would be in ...
To understand events of 1980, we must begin in late-1979. The completion of the Interstate 474 bypass (and Airport Road interchange) on December 20 that year expanded PIA's catchment area, but unfortunately failed to compensate for an increasingly difficult period in local aviation history. The UAW Local 974 struck area Caterpillar Tractor Company plant on October 1, 1979, forcing a reduction in manufacturing and logistics operations. The walkout ended in mid-December but reduced corporate (and probably leisure) travel, impacting passenger traffic at the Greater Peoria Airport. On October 6, 1979 the Federal Reserve changed its monetary policy as a means to slay inflation, resulting in much higher interest rates. Already suffering from rising unemployment, the national economy plunged into recession from January to July 1980. From May 5 through June 1, Ozark Air Lines was shut down due to a mechanic's strike. As a consequence of each event noted above, PIA passenger...
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