Peoria Station

I found 2024 passenger stats for Bloomington-Normal's Central Illinois Regional Airport! Radio station WGLT 89.1 FM posted a story May 27 with lots of good detail. Last year, CIRA recorded 165,701 enplanements and 163,947 deplanements for a total of 329,648. In 2023, these figures were 167,597 and 167,291, respectively, for a total of 334,888. So CIRA saw only a slight decline in traffic last year. One wonders, though, if continued commercial airline operations are sustainable. CIRA has never recovered after losing AirTran Airways in 2012. Southwest Airlines, which acquired AirTran, decided that CIRA did not fit into its plans. Capacity was cut and low-fare connections via an Atlanta hub ended.  What CIRA has going for it is Delta Connection nonstops to Atlanta, two roundtrips daily, on 76-seat CRJ900 equipment operated by SkyWest Airlines. This service draws travelers from through the Central Illinois region, including Peoria. Outside of Chicago, only Moline/Quad Cities can boast...

PIA is still on a role. WMBD Radio 1470 posted an article late this morning , detailing the great success Peoria International Airport has had in recent months. It handled 72,774 passengers in May 2025 and 78,892 in June. The latter is 20 percent higher than the same month in 2024! All airlines have added capacity - Allegiant Air by 10 percent, American Eagle by 20 and United Express by 67. Additional capacity and new service (Denver) reflects surging demand. Pricing is likely more reasonable, i. e. the airlines are not discouraging passengers from using small airports like PIA.  Director of Airports, Gene Olson, said the facility is attracting passengers from outside the Peoria region. I would interpret that as Bloomington-Normal, Champaign-Urbana, Decatur and Springfield metro areas. As scheduled commercial airline service at those cities is quite limited these days, Peoria is benefitting from travelers who will drive some distance, but avoid Chicago or St. Louis if they can....

This is the third Tuesday in a row that Norfolk Southern's D49 local has left East Peoria around 1600 hours. They don't seem to be coming up on Mondays anymore, and a second run is made on Thursdays or Fridays. At least the accummulation of traffic makes for nice-sized trains heading back to Good Yard in Normal.   This afternoon's train had three Caterpillar D11 tractor loads. I could only glance as they passed, but I believe the information card on the tractors said South Africa. There were more of those empty Primient (Tate & Lyle, STSX) corn syrup tank cars.  CAPTION: Norfolk Southern Railway train D49 (Normal IL to E. Peoria IL turn) departs East Peoria, Illinois mid-afternoon Tuesday, July 22, 2025. Later, it is see rolling by the TP&W crossing at Crandall Junction. NS 7021 and NS 6923 have NS 3067 (from Des Moines) and 51 cars (40 loads/11 empties). Note three Caterpillar D11 track-type tractor loads.   - David P. Jordan

I missed M-GALPEI's arrival but after my routine visit to the downtown library, I returned to East Peoria to check on M-PEIGAL with the assumption it would run in the evening.   Sure enough, the crew was putting together its train but re-crewed before departure. Highlights on today's train include one more of those Dash 9-44CW Norfolk Southern sold to Relco (Albia, Iowa), four Caterpillar D9 track-type tractor loads and the three iron oxide loads TP&W delivered to TZPR on Sunday.  CAPTION: BNSF Railway train M-PEIGAL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Galesburg IL) comes off the "New Horn" after crossing the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Illinois River Bridge early evening Monday, July 21, 2025. BNSF 7475 and NS 1078 have ex-NS 3946 (sold to Relco) and 28 cars. The three BNSF steel hoppers mid-train contain iron oxide, and were delivered to TZPR by TP&W on Sunday.   - David P. Jordan

I happened to see the train on the TP&W "Peoria Sub" (West Main) preparing for departure, so I waited near W. Washington Street. Sure enough, the crew asked for permission to deliver to the "hump." I decided to return home to change clothes and get something to eat, and when I returned to East Peoria, I caught the tail end of the return trip, which had grabbed those 25 cars off the Nickel Plate from yesterday.    I missed this move, expecting it to take longer. Hopefully, it will become a regular deal. I can confirm that the 25 cars were loaded at Western Grain Marketing's Atterberry elevator, and pulled Friday. That TP&W grabbed them and took them to its home terminal in East Peoria tells me they will head east soon on the "M-train" with a Gilman destination.   Most likely, the cars contain soybeans for Incobrasa Industries. WGM-Atterberry is likely to send corn to Alto Pekin. If not trucked (or shipped by rail) to the Peoria-Pekin area fo...

My last "Ask Peoria Station" was posted March 30, 2024.  So I guess it is way past time to do another. As always, If I don't know an answer off hand, I'll find one. But what I really wanted to write here is an update on my "PIA - A History" series. I haven't posted one in a long time.  December 28, 2022 to be exact. Events of the year 2002 were covered. I lack complete airline schedules for specific a month in 2003, and obtaining them is usually costly these days. Airlines quit publishing paper timetables some years ago, and vendors who have them tend to price them with great pride. I get that, but I am not wealthy. I am glad I purchased what I did, when I did.  But I do intend to continue posting this series. Bear with me. It takes time and research. I will create a slide show using images from the Prairie Air Show on July 5, 2003. Amazingly, the public spectator show area that weekend bordered the terminal apron, so commercial airliner activity was eas...

I usually get the Illinois & Midland transfers to East Peoria on the return southbound leg, but I finally encountered it early this afternoon on the northbound leg.    I was suprised to see that the 25 TP&W covered hoppers on the head end were loaded. Western Grain Marketing's Atterberry elevator probably loaded soybeans for Incobrasa Industries at Gilman. The crew pulled to the north end of the TZPR yard, broke these off and doubled them over to the Nickel Plate. I assume a TP&W switch crew will grab them soon (they had not as of 1600 hours this afternoon). The only other possibility is that soybeans were transferred from barges to railcars at Incobrasa Industries' ex-American Milling Co. facility on Crystal Lake, just southwest of Pekin. But the tracks there are usually filled up with DDGS cars from the Iowa Interstate. So I'm leaning toward the former theory... CAPTION: An Illinois & Midland Railroad Powerton Roadswitcher pulls through Wesley (Creve C...

Given the length of today's Norfolk Southern local on its return leg to Normal, it is obvious it did not run on Monday. The train's 57 cars are an interesting study. 1 GAMX 25133/tank car/liquid feed 2 ADMX 636112/covered hopper/grain product 3 ADMX 636008/covered hopper/grain product 4 NS 170173/coil care car/ L/C coil steel (empty) 5 TILX 642137/covered hopper/grain product 6 ADMX 64252/covered hopper/grain product 7 CTCX 730860/tank car/denatured alcohol 8 TILX 20052/tank car/carbon dioxide refrigerated liquid 9 TILX 402459/tank car/carbon dioxide refrigerated liquid 10 TILX 402161/tank car/carbon dioxide refrigerated liquid 11 MWCX 481003/covered hopper/grain product 12 ADMX 635975/covered hopper/grain product 13 TILX 641597/covered hopper/grain product 14 ITFX 650041/covered hopper/grain product 15 TILX 194307/tank car/industrial alcohol 16 UTLX 209299/tank car/industrial alcohol 17 MBKX 190038/covered hopper/grain product 18 TILX 642177/covered hopper/grain product 19 MWC...

Videocapture shows a United Express CRJ200 on final approach to PIA on July 22, 2023 United Airlines' United Express regional partners will be offering five daily roundtrips between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare on August 20! At present, four roundtrips are operated daily by SkyWest Airlines using 50-seat CRJ200 equipment. A fifth departure begans the evening of August 19 with a full schedule the next day. Three of the roundtrips, will be operated by CRJ550 equipment, which is a CRJ700 modified with a premium cabin configuration, but with 50 seats.  Two of the CRJ550 cycles will be operated by GoJet Airlines, the other by SkyWest Airlines. And it gets more interesting. The schedule prior to the expansion in frequency calls for the following -  Dep. 6:15am to Chicago-O'Hare CRJ200 Arr. 10:19am from Chicago-O'Hare CRJ200 Dep. 11:00am to Chicago-O'Hare CRJ200 Arr. 3:03pm from Chicago-O'Hare CRJ200 Dep. 1539pm to Chicago-O'Hare CRJ200 Arr. 4:43pm from Chicago-O'...

It is time for my annual update on local airline service.  A summer month is best for this update. I used July for 2024's update, and I have every reason to do so again this year. Barring last minute changes, the schedules and route map below are accurate. So let us delve into the present situation.  ALLEGIANT AIR Like last year, schedules for July 2025 show most flights operated with Airbus A320 equipment. They do not discern between 177-seat A320s or brand-new 186-seat A320SEOs. Smaller A319s, configured for 156 seats, are now only used on some Las Vegas and Punta Gorda flights. Brand new Boeing 737 Max 8-200 aircraft began appearing on St. Petersburg/Clearwater nonstops as early as February 2025 and are now also used on Orlando-Sanford nonstops. These aircraft are equipped with 190 seats.  Seasonal nonstops to Destin/Fort Walton Beach and year-round nonstops to Phoenix-Mesa and Punta Gorda have gained one weekly roundtrip each as compared to last year. So there are now...

I usually don't pay much attention to light engine movements, unless it is rare (Morton) or something special like four units moving all elephant-style.  CAPTION: The Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway's EP2 crew ran TPW 2056, IORY 3472, TPW 5013 and TPW 2105 engine light to the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Creve Coeur diesel shop late-afternoon Friday, July 11, 2025. They are shown moments before crossing W. Washington Street and entering the Nickel Plate Division at East Peoria. - David P. Jordan

Due to working a lot of overtime last month, I missed some local action, including some Iowa Interstate trains. My last encounter was on May 24 when I saw both SIPE and PESI trains.    Today's SIPE was made up of mostly ADM grain products (DDGS, or "mash") out of Cedar Rapids, but also an empty industrial alcohol tank car and three empty STSX corn syrup tank cars, which are owned by Primient (formerly Tate & Lyle Americas, nee A. E. Staley Mfg. Co.). I can only guess they were used by ADM out of Cedar Rapids and may now be returning to their owner at Decatur, Illinois. CAPTION: Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd. manifest SIPE (Silvis IL to Peoria IL) rolls by Mossville, Illinois early evening Thursday, July 10, 2025. Shortly, the train is shown at San Koty, a few miles from entering Tazewell & Peoria Railroad property. IAIS 151 and IAIS 716 have 55 cars.   - David P. Jordan

It took long enough for Liberty Steel & Wire to begin shipping coiled wire rod by rail. Workers were recalled to both the steel and rod mills and wire mills in March. Maybe regular rod traffic will prompt NS to improve service on the Bloomington District? My last encounter with a D49 handling coiled wire rod was slightly more than a year ago, on July 1, 2024!    I heard two weeks ago that Norfolk Southern did not run a D36 (Normal to Decatur) for three days in a row! Decatur's yard has been a mess for years now, and crew shortages continue. In the past, Norfolk Southern has bounced back from either a self-inflicted traffic meltdown (post Conrail split in 1999) or loss of business due to recession (2008-2009), but business seems to have stagnated and then dropped off the past six years.   Although D49 is carded to run Monday thru Friday, an East Peoria turn may happen at most three times a week. Unpredictable service, higher pricing, and lack of crews to run trains...

I was able to capture Union Pacific's MPECL early this afternoon.    The long cut of tank cars look like what I saw on the Low Line since last Thursday. Friday's train had only four cars, so perhaps they mostly empties for today's run? Basic make-up:   SIX corn syrup empties THREE industrial alcohol (UN 1170) loads TWO steepwater loads ONE denatured alcohol (UN 1987) load ONE industrial alcohol (UN 1170) load ONE plastic pellet empty THREE corn syrup empties ONE corn gluten meal/feed/DDGS? load THREE plastic pellet empties  ONE scrap metal empty ONE beverage alcohol (UN 3065) load THREE corn syrup empties  ONE industrial alcohol (UN 1170) load ONE beverage alcohol (UN 3065) load ONE corn gluten meal/feed/DDGS load? ONE plastic pellet empty TWO beverage alcohol (UN 3065) loads TWENTY-NINE trona (dry sorbent) empties THIRTEEN grain product empties   Origins are Alto Ingredients, BioUrja Renewables, Alter Metal Recycling/Liberty Steel ...

The last time I witnessed a loaded, northbound grain extra on the Union Pacific's Peoria Subdivision was on October 3, 2021. Loaded at BNSF-served ADM Grain Co. in St. Louis, five locomotives were required to get 102 corn loads up Pioneer Hill. It actually stalled with four the day before and the crew parked it just south of W. Farmington Road. When a fifth unit was added (probably ran engine lite from Clinton), they made another go of it.   The reason for northbound grain loads? A derecho had severely damaged Iowa's corn (and soybean) crop in July 2020, so processors had to import grain to make up for the shortage. A 42-car cut of corn was loaded at Encompass Grain & Rail's Allen Station terminal on November 6, 2020 and added to an MPECL (possibly that afternoon's train). It was a rare move for the LPD01 local as well.    It is possible then that Encompass loaded this 115-car train I saw this evening, but why it was routed north is unclear.  CAPTION: A rar...

I figured Union Pacific would run MPECL today, despite being a holiday. After checking out Adams Street Yard around 1:00pm, I had doubts, as the train had not been made up! UP 7955 and UP 5854 were parked in the yard with no cars. The former was bad ordered so the latter led today's train.   Not sure why the short train of just four cars. The Low Line had a string of tank cars (or mostly tank cars) and there were covered hoppers in the yard as well. I saw the LPD01 job switching in the yard late Thursday afternoon, so perhaps having a single operational unit was a factor. I could not tell if the other cars had not yet been delivered to TZPR or if they had been received from them. All four that were on today's train came from TZPR (the coal empty came from a connection, either CN or IMRR), and one was a denatured alcohol load.  CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls along Edelstein Siding near its namesake Illinois village late-afterno...

After work this afternoon, I noticed CN's local power on the Creve Coeur Team Track with no sign of a crew on duty. When I checked again about two hours later, the units were gone. I soon realized the train had departed and was already on home rails in Pekin. I arrived to find they had just pulled an empty centerbeam flat car from Amerhart Ltd. and shoved it into the other 27 cars. The conductor was still on the ground, but it looked they were getting close to moving again.    I decided to wait at 5th Street near South Pekin, but forgot to change my camera setting from auto to 4k. I got video but only 1080p, and that annoying speck that appeared in my lens about a month ago. I've been using the 4k setting, which is zoomed in slightly, eliminating the speck.    So I decided to chase L557 a little further. I did not intend to go all the way to Mount Pulaski, but finding decent locations without shadows was getting difficult. The one I found near Mount Pulaski was g...