Peoria Station

Early evening is a typical time for train PESI (Peoria IL to Silvis IL) to traverse the Iowa Interstate Railroad's Peoria Subdivision. But this early evening, I caught counterpart SIPE.  A pair of GP38-2s, 705 and 703, led 54 cars. The train's consist included the usual ADM traffic out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa but also a sprinkling of potash loads and empty tank cars.  Video taken at Mossville.  - David P. Jordan

Something interesting happened on the Toledo Peoria & Western Railway this weekend.  Late summer marks a push by grain belt elevators to empty their silos in time for the fall harvest. A bumper crop in 2016 ensures that a lot of grain will be shipped the next month or so. The grain has to be sold, and who it is sold to can create interesting rail movements. Such is the case on Saturday, August 26 when Norfolk Southern Train 51Z, made up of two engines and 85 grain empties, arrived East Peoria and parked on the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's "Nickel Plate Sub." The NS crew ran around their train and coupled to the east end. A short time later, a TP&W crew got on and took it east. The first 52 cars (and one locomotive) were left at Grainland Cooperative's Cruger elevator and the remaining 33 were hauled to Prairie Central Cooperative's Weston elevator. A reported 24-hour turnaround time had elevator personnel loading corn that evening. I captured ...

A little departure from local topics... Megamergers in the past six decades reduced to seven the number of Class I railroads left in the United States. And Illinois is the only state in which all seven operate.  My first encounter with a Kansas City Southern train came in 2008. It was a passenger special sponsored by High Iron Travel. The journey treated riders to a rare-mileage trip from St. Louis to Chicago via KCS to Springfield on Saturday July 19. The next day the journey continued on the Illinois & Midland Railroad to Peoria and then TP&W to Galesburg on BNSF's Peoria Sub. Passenger cars were tacked onto an Amtrak train (probably the Carl Sandburg)) to Chicago. I shot video on both days.  I had yet to catch a KCS freight train. I tried on August 19, 2009 but only managed to encounter the Loami (IL) tornado! Then on October 22, 2013 enroute to the Lexington Group's Kansas City (MO) meeting, I captured my first KCS freight, an eastbound Roodhouse Su...

(Originally posted on peoriastation.com March 26, 2017) The last post in this series on PIA (Peoria Int'l Airport) covered the 1958-1960 period, detailing the new terminal which opened in May 1959. Airline schedules from the Official Airline Guide, January 1960 edition, were included. I’ll now analyze 1960-1964. The new terminal brought optimism that the 1960s would bring larger aircraft and more flights. Indeed, the Peoria Journal Star reported on May 13, 1959 that American Airlines might replace its 40-seat Convair 240s with 70-seat DC-6s and eventually the new turboprop Lockheed Electra. Likewise, Trans World Airlines intended to phase out its 40-seat Martin 404s in favor of 81-seat Lockheed Constellations. This optimism shattered when Trans World Airlines announced on January 13, 1960 plans to drop Peoria from its network. Then American Airlines made a similar announcement March 9 that year. As a courtesy to TWA’s 13 years of service, Peoria industry did not oppos...

(Originally posted on peoriastation.com on February 1, 2017) When the Greater Peoria Airport tallied 94,914 passengers in 1957 (a 13.3 percent increase over the previous year), it looked as if the airport would top 100,000 for the first time in 1958. But this was not to be. A recession plagued the nation’s economy by late 1957. It would last eight months, and one serious consequence – 3,000 layoffs by Caterpillar Tractor Company – hurt the local economy, and thus airline passenger traffic. Only 90,873 passengers enplaned/ deplaned at PIA in 1958. An American Airlines strike, begun December 19 (and ended January 10), couldn’t have helped matters either. NEW TERMINAL Yet as 1958 unfolded, there was much to look forward. Runway 12-30 was extended to 7,000 feet with an additional 1,000 overrun. It opened for traffic on August 16, enabling the 169th’s F-84s to fly out of their own base. Even better, a new mid-field terminal complex would soon replace the old cramped facility ...

(Originally posted on peoriastation.com October 11, 2016) The last post in this series covered the period between 1950 and 1956. This one covers the ensuing two years. That’s because a lot happened, which set the stage for decades to come. LONGER RUNWAY FOR ANG JET FIGHTERS Runway 12-30, with a northwest-southeast orientation, opened with 4002′ x 100′ dimensions. In 1947, it was extended to 5000′ and widened to 150′ for operations by the 169th’s P-51 Mustangs. As early as 1948, a USAF general suggested ANG would soon obtain jet fighters, requiring at least 6000′ runway length. At first, the airport’s 3600′ northeast-southwest runway (4-22) was to be lengthened to 4800′ or 5000′. Unfortunately, issues with mining subsidence and airfield funding delayed these projects, and by the time they were solved, the Korean War consumed funding and supplies which would have enabled runway expansion. Another issue was Monroe School, which would have to relocate if 4-22 were extend...

I usually don't miss a chance to see and film an Iowa Interstate train on the Peoria Subdivision. I got one of its northbound freights early this evening.  Trains PESI and SIPE, which run on an as needed basis, i. e. three or four times a week, between Peoria and Silvis, handle this carrier's "manifest" (mixed carload freight and empties) traffic. I caught the former early this evening shortly after it left Peoria.  A pair of SD38-2s (150 & 152) pulled 64 cars, mostly feed empties returning to ADM in Cedar Rapids but also one beverage alcohol and two industrial alcohol loads from ADM's Peoria distillery, an amine load from Geismar, Louisiana and two ethanol loads out of Pekin (Pacific Ethanol or Illinois Corn Processing).  - David P. Jordan